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CHRISTMAS  HOLIDAYS  IN  ROME 


BY  THE 

RIGHT  REV.   WM.    INGRAHAM  KIP,    D.D. 


BISHOP  OF  CALnrORNIA 


•rerum  pulcherrima,  Roma, 

ViBQ.  G«org.  ii.  534. 


NEW   YORK 

E.  P.  BUTTON  &  COMPANY 
39  West  Twenty-third  St. 

1884 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by 

E.  P.  Button  and  Compant, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts 


To 
THE  COMPANION  OF  THESE  WANDERINGS, 

HER  UySBAND 
INSCRIBES  THIS   VOLUME 


*•  Why,  wedded  to  the  Lord,  still  yearns  my  heart 
Upon  these  scenes  of  ancient  heathen  fame? 
Yet  lejrend  hoar,  and  voice  of  bard  tliat  came 

Fixing  my  restless  youth  with  its  sweet  art, 

And  shades  of  power,  and  those  who  bore  their  part 
In  the  mad  deeds  that  set  the  world  in  flame. 
To  fret  my  memory  here—  ah!  is  it  blame 

That  from  my  eye  the  tear  is  fain  to  start? 

Nay,  from  no  fount  impure  these  drops  arise; 

'Tis  but  the  sympathy  with  Adam's  race. 

Which  in  each  brother's  history  reads  its  own." 

—  Lyra  Apostolica. 


PREFACE. 


To  have  seen  Rome  is  a  great  fact  in  an  individ- 
al's  life.  So  it  appeared  to  the  writer  of  these  pages, 
when  wandering  among  her  mighty  ruins,  finding 
everywhere  the  bright  pictures  of  youthful  imagina- 
tion surpassed.  Cicero  in  his  day  declared,  —  "  We 
are  surrounded  by  tlie  vestiges  of  history."  How 
then  should  we  feel  when,  standing  on  the  same 
spot,  we  realize  that  eighteen  centuries  have  since 
added  their  relics ! 

The  title  of  this  volume  does  not  perhaps,  give 
an  adequate  idea  of  its  contents.  The  writer  was 
led  to  adopt  it,  because  his  primary  object  in  visit- 
ing Rome  at  that  season,  was  to  witness  the  Christ- 
mas services.  His  residence  there  was,  however, 
prolonged  through  the  gi-eater  part  of  the  winter,  all 
of  which  time  was  occupied  in  diligent  study  of  the 
inexhaustible  objects  around  him.  To  attempt  a  de- 
scription of  one  half,  in  a  work  of  this  size,  would 
be  in  vain  ;  he  has  therefore  only  selected  from  his 
notes  written  on  the  spot,  some  of  those  things  which 
excited  the  greatest  interest  in  his  own  mind. 


VI  PREFACE. 

It  will  be  seen  that  while  he  has  paid  some  atten- 
tion to  the  antiquities  of  the  city  and  the  classical 
associations  connected  with  them,  he  has  dwelt  par- 
ticularly upon  Ecclesiastical  matters  relating  to  the 
Church  of  Rome.  And  in  this  respect,  he  thinks  the 
work  will  differ  from  most  of  those  on  the  same  sub- 
ject. Travellers  seem  generally  to  have  given  only  a 
one-sided  view  of  the  Papal  Church.  Some  were  ready 
to  commend  everything,  and  others,  on  the  contrary, 
saw  nothing  good  in  the  whole  system,  —  no  rite  or 
service  which  did  not  shock  some  violent  prejudice. 
Now  in  this,  as  in  everything  else,  there  is  a  proper 
medium.  The  Church  of  Rome  is  indeed  deformed 
by  many  fearful  errors,  which  often  strike  at  the 
very  cardinal  doctrines  of  our  faith,  but  she  has  also 
retained  much  that  is  Catholic.  Were  it  not  so,  that 
mighty  Hierarchy  could  not  have  subsisted  for  so 
many  centuries,  through  every  change  and  convul- 
sion ;  winning  to  its  spiritual  sway,  the  crowds  of 
northern  barbarians  which  swept  over  the  city ; 
and  even  at  the  present  day,  drawing  to  itself  pros- 
elytes in  lands,  where  intellectual  and  spiritual  free- 
dom give  eveiy  opportunity  for  the  thorough  discus- 
sion of  this  subject.  These  are  the  very  things  which 
render  the  system  so  dangerous,  enabling  it  to  charm 
the  imagination  and  retain  its  hold  upon  the  human 
mind,  while  its  influence  is  withering  to  the  best 
interests  of  our  race.  The  writer  has,  therefore, 
endeavored  to  look  at  the  Church  of  Rome  without 


PRE  FA  CE.  vii 

prejudice,  and  while  his  investigation  strengthened 
tlie  unfavorable  view  ho  before  had  of  the  practical 
working  of  that  system,  he  still  has  not  withheld 
his  tribute  of  ])raise  from  anything  he  saw  which 
was  truly  Catholic. 

He  has  been  obliged  to  write  this  volume  entirely 
during  the  last  three  months,  amidst  those  engross- 
ing cares  of  parish  duty  which  necessarily  gathered 
around  him  after  the  absence  of  nearly  a  year  from 
liis  field  of  labor.  He  mentions  this,  not  to  depre- 
cate criticism,  but  to  account  for  mistakes  which 
may  exist.  To  him,  however,  the  labor  has  been 
a  pleasant  one,  reviving  associations  which  he  would 
always  wish  to  cherish.  Beautiful  Italy!  thy  old 
traditions  lingering  around  each  crumbling  fane,  and 
consecrating  each  fountain  and  grove,  are  inspiration 
to  the  mind !  thy  very  language  is  melody  to  the 
ear !  Thy  bright  and  sunny  clime ;  thy  land  so 
richly  dowered  with  loveliness  ;  thy  antique  and 
solemn  ruins  ;  how  will  the  recollections  they  fur- 
nish mingle  with  the  stern  realities  of  coming  days, 
and  soften  the  carking  cares  of  this  working  w^orld ! 
They  will  return  to  us  like  the  glorious  visions 
which  ever  after  floated  before  the  eyes  of  the  Ara- 
bian shepherd,  when  —  as  Eastern  fable  tells  us,  — 
while  wandering  in  the  wilderness,  he  had  caught 
a  single  glimpse  of  the  gardens  of  Irim,  and  then 
lost  them  again  forever. 

Alkanv,  Christmas,  1845. 


PREFACE  TO   PRESENT  EDITION. 


More  than  twenty  years  ago,  after  a  winter  spent 
in  Rome  with  the  enthusiasm  of  early  clays,  the 
author  published  this  volume.  It  was  shortly  after 
reprinted  in  London,  edited  by  the  Rev.  Wm.  Sew- 
all,  of  Exeter  College,  Oxford,  and  in  successive 
editions  has  retained  its  place,  with  the  reading  pub- 
lic in  England,  to  this  day.  In  this  country,  how- 
ever, it  has  been  long  out  of  print,  and  the  author 
has,  therefore,  yielded  to  the  requests  of  friends  to 
have  a  new  edition  issued. 

In  revising  it,  after  another  visit  to  Rome  and 
with  the  wider  experience  which  these  years  have 
given,  he  finds  no  necessity  to  modify  a  single  opin- 
ion or  alter  any  conclusion  which  he  then  expressed. 
Rome  sits  unchanged  upon  her  Seven  Hills.  Greg- 
ory XVI.  indeed  sleeps  with  his  predecessors,  and 
Pius  IX.  reigns  in  his  stead,  but  the  system  is  un- 
altered.    All  things  there  continue  as  they  were. 

Even  the  outward  features  of  the  city  are  un- 
changed. A  score  of  years  has  left  no  impress  on 
her  hoary    ruins.     The    Railway   indeed   now   winds 


X  PREFACE   TO  PRESENT  EDITION. 

across  the  desolate  Campagna,  from  Civita  Vecchia 
to  the  city,  but  it  stops  without  the  walls.  With- 
in them  no  innovations  of  the  nineteenth  century  are 
allowed.  When  the  author  was  asked,  —  "  Do  you 
see  changes  in  anything  here  since  your  last  visit  ?  " 
—  he  was  obliged  to  answer,  — "  In  nothing  but 
myself!  " 

October,  1868. 


CONTENTS. 


I.  PIQS 

/.,    CiviTA  Vecchia.  —  Journey  to  Rome.  —  The  "  Kternal  City  " 

BY  MOGNLIGJIT 1 

II. 

;i^  View  from  the  Tower  of  the  Senator 8 

III. 
St.  Peter's  Church 21 

IV. 

K,     The  Christmas  Services 41 

V. 

^     The  Capitoline  Hill 53 

VI. 
The  Vatican 67 

VII. 

Presentation  at  the  Papal  Court.  — The  Popedom        .        .      81 

VIII. 
/    A  Day's  Ramble  in  Rome 90 

IX. 
A      The  Epiphany  Services 105 

X. 

The  Tobibs  of  the  last  Stuarts 115 


xii  CONTENTS. 

m 

XI.  p  AOt 

The  Coliseum.  —  Palack  of  the  C.ksahs.  —  Baths  .        .        .    122 

xir. 

Dramatic  Character  of  the  Church  Services.  —  Sermon  by 

A  Vicar-General.  —  Capuchin  Ckmeteuy    ....    140 

XIII. 
Christian  Art.  —  Overbkck 151 

XIV. 

Excursion  on  the  Appian  Way      . 159 

?\ 

XV. 
;^     Cardinals.  —  Mezzofantc 179 

XVI. 
The  Protestant  Buriai^ground 188 

XVII. 
The  Palaces  of  Rome 199 

XVIII. 
Excursion  to  Tivoli 223 

XIX. 
The  Churches  of  Rome 230 

XX. 

Exhibition  at  the  Propaganda.  —  Funerals.  — Vespers  at  the 
Convent  of  Santa  Trinita 258 

XXI. 
^      The  Roman  People.  —  The  Civil  Government  of  the  Papal 

Court 270 

XXII. 
/      The  Papal  Church .281 

XXIII, 
Farewell  to  Rome 801 


^^^ 


-,  -. .--  <? 


CHRISTMAS  1I0L¥i)AYS-  m  ROME. 


CHAPTER    I. 

CrVTTA  VECCHIA. JOURNEY   TO  ROME.  THE  "  ETER- 
NAL city"  by  moonlight. 

T  was  in  one  of  the  most  lovely  nights  ever 
seen  under  an  Italian  sky,  that  the  steamer 
in  which  we  had  embarked  from  Genoa  came 
within  sight  of  the  coast  of  the  Papal  domin- 
ions. The  moon  had  risen  in  her  queen-like  beauty, 
and  as  she  rode  high  above  us  in  the  heavens,  every 
wave  of  the  Mediterranean  seemed  tinged  with  her 
radiance.  Felucca,  polacre,  xebec,  and  other  strange 
looking  craft,  were  floating  lazily  on  the  sea,  while  our 
own  vessel,  as  she  glided  through  the  blue  waters,  left 
a  track  of  molten  silver  to  mark  her  way.  The  cool, 
fresh  breeze  which  came  sweeping  over  the  sea  was 
far  more  grateful  than  the  heated  air  of  the  cabin,  and 
we  remained  long  on  deck,  seeing  as  we  passed,  on  the 
one  hand,  Napoleon's  miniature  kingdom  of  Elba,  and 
on  the  other,  the  long  line  of  the  main-land,  which 
owes  submission  to  his  Holiness  Gregory  XVI. 

At  sunrise  the  next  morning  we  entered  the  harbor 
of  Civita  Vecchia,  the  nearest  approach  which  can  be 
1 


"Z        THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  HOME. 

made  by  sea  to  the  city  of  Rome.  The  remaining 
distance,  fifty-two  miles,  must  be  travelled  by  land. 
Ostia,  the  ancient  port  in  which,  during  the  days  of 
the  republic,  her  galleys  rode,  where  Scipio  Africanus 
embarked  for  Spain,  and  Claudius  for  Britain,  is  indeed 
but  sixteen  miles  from  the  city,  and  was  formerly 
much  nearer,  but  the  gradual  accumulation  of  sand 
has  entirely  destroyed  its  harbor.  After  it  was  sacked 
by  the  Saracens  in  the  fifth  century,  no  attempt  was 
made  to  restore  it.  The  salt  marshes,  which  Livy 
mentions  as  existing  in  the  days  of  Ancus  Martins, 
gradually  encroached  on  the  one  side,  and  the  sand 
was  drifted  over  it  from  the  sea  on  the  other,  until 
this  city,  which  once  contained  eighty  thousand  inhab- 
itants, now  has  on»ly  about  fifty  souls  living  in  wretch- 
edness among  its  ruins.  We  passed  it  in  the  steamer 
some  months .  afterwards  on  our  way  up  from  Naples  ; 
but  the  site  is  only  marked  by  the  remains  of  a  temple 
and  theatre  almost  concealed  by  brambles,  and  a  pictur- 
esque old  fortress  erected  during  the  Middle  Ages, 
with  two  solitary  pine-trees  standing  in  front  of  it. 
And  yet,  this  place  was  once  a  suburb  of  imperial 
Rome  :  from  thence  the  old  consuls  went  forth  to  vic- 
tory, and  there  they  landed  to  commence  their  tri- 
umphs as  they  entered  the  city. 

Civita  Vecchia,  with  its  fortress  erected  from  plans 
furnished  by  Michael  Angelo,  and  its  long  ramparts, 
presents  a  striking  view  from  the  sea,  which  you  find, 
on  landing,  the  reality  by  no  means  justifies.  It  has, 
however,  some  traces  of  antiquity,  for  the  massive 
stone-work  of  its  port  was  built  under  the  direction  of 
Trajan  (the  younger  Pliny  describes  it  as  the  "Trajani 
Portus  ")  ;  ^nd  here,  as  at  Terracina,  the  bronze  rings 


THE    CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.        3 

by  which  the  Roman  galleys  were  made  fast  to  the 
quays  still  remain.  The  immense  prisons  lining  the 
basin  have  a  bright  appearance,  which  contrasts  strange- 
ly with  the  gloomy  object  to  which  they  are  devoted. 
When  we  came  on  deck^t  dawn,  the  galley-slaves,  in 
their  parti-colored  dresses,  were  just  marching  out  to 
work,  attended  by  a  strong  guard  of  soldiers.  Their 
number  is  said  to  be  nearly  twelve  hundred,  and  the 
clanking  of  their  chains  as  they  walked  was  the  first 
sound  which  greeted  us  from  the  States  of  the  Church. 
The  manner  in  which  we  were  fleeced  on  all  sides  at 
this  port  of  his  Holiness  was  a  foretaste  of  what  we  were 
to  expect  in  Italy.  You  first  pay  sundry  pauls^  for  being 
rowed  ashore  from  the  steamer ;  several  porters  (^fac- 
cliini)  seize  your  baggage,  and,  unless  you  can  squabble 
in  Italian,  you  must  bestow  some  more  pauls  on  each  for 
carrying  it  to  the  custom-house  —  more  pauls  to  the 
officials  there,  for  weigliing  it,  to  see  whether  or  not  it 
is  beyond  the  allowable  weight  for  the  carriage  —  more 
for  plumbing  it  (that  is,  cording  it  up,  and  fastening  it 
with  a  lead  seal,  which  is  not  to  be  taken  off*  till  you  reach 
Rome)  —  more  for  the  printed  permit  to  pass  it  through 
the  gates  when  you  leave  —  more  for  hoisting  it  up  on 
the  top  of  the  carriage  ;  and  so  you  go  on,  paying  away 
on  the  right  and  on  the  left,  until  your  small  change  and 
patience  are  both  exhausted.  In  this  little  catalogue  is 
not  included  the  fee  to  the  custom-house  officer,  whose 
inspection  was  a  mere  pro  formd  business.  He  lifted 
the  covers  of  our  trunks,  made  a  great  flourish  about  the 
*?xamination,  in  the  course  of  which  he  opened  a  book 
(happening  to  be  a  controversial  one  on  the  Romish 
Church),  and  looked  into  it  as  curiously  as  if  there  was 

1  Ajidul  or  jMulo  is  about  eleven  cents. 


4        THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN   ROME. 

any  probability  of  his  understanding  what  it  was,  and 
then  closed  the  trunks  again.  He  next  whispered  to  us, 
that  "  he  should  be  happy  to  receive  something,  as  we 
had  been  well  served,"  turned  his  back,  put  his  open 
hand  behind  him  with  a  great  affectation  of  secrecy, 
closed  it  as  the  expected  pauls  dropped  in,  and  the  farce 
was  over.  Add  to  this  about  a  dollar  for  the  vise  of 
each  passport,  and  you  have  the  history  of  the  black- 
mail levied  on  us  at  Civita  Vecchia  in  about  two  hours. 
At  noon  we  set  out  in  a  carriage  drawn  by  three 
horses.  "  And  so  we  went  towards  Rome."  The  road 
for  one  half  of  the  distance  skirts  the  Mediterranean, 
through  a  region  dreary  and  often  uncultivated,  though 
the  last  part,  where  it  turns  eastward  into  the  country, 
becomes  more  hilly.  One  who  looked  only  to  the 
present,  would  pronounce  it  a  ride  without  interest,  ex- 
cept where  his  curiosity  was,  at  times,  excited  by  some 
massive  ruins  near  the  road,  or  a  lonely  tower  hanging 
over  the  sea,  reminding  him  of  days  of  feudal  strife. 
But,  as  Walpole  says,  "  our  memory  sees  more  than  our 
eyes  in  this  country."  The  classical  scholar,  therefore, 
looks  upon  it  as  a  land  seamed  and  furrowed  by  the 
footsteps  of  past  ages.  He  is  in  the  midst  of  places  of 
which  Strabo  and  Pliny  wrote.  He  crosses  the  Vac- 
cina, the  Amnis  Coeretanus  of  his  old  school  days.  He 
passes  through  Cervetere,  once  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant cities  of  ancient  Etruria,  where  Virgil  tells  us 
Mezentius  reigned  when  Eneas  entered  Italy  ;  and  the 
paintings  in  whose  tombs,  Pliny  says,  existed  long  be- 
fore the  foundation  of  Rome.  It  is  supposed,  indeed, 
that  the  Romans  were  first  initiated  in  the  mysteries  of 
the  Etruscan  worship  by  the  priests  of  Csere ;  and,  when 
Rome  was  invaded  by  the  Gauls,  it  was  here  that  the 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.       5 

vestal  virgins  found  an  asylum,  and  were  sent  for  safety 
with  the  sacred  fire.  Every  scene,  indeed,  has  its  sep- 
arate story ;  and  old  memories  of  the  past  are  crowding 
back  on  the  traveller's  mind,  as  he  hears  names  which 
are  associated  with  all  he  knows  of  classical  interest. 

It  is  something,  too,  to  be  riding  along  the  shores  of 
the  Mediterranean.  Its  waves  are  haunted  by  the  spirit 
of  the  past.  We  see  them  sparkling  at  our  feet,  or 
stretching  out  to  the  horizon,  blue  and  beautiful  in  the 
sunlight,  and  we  remember  what  countries  they  lave. 
Opposite  to  us  is  Africa,  where  St.  Augustine  once  ruled, 
and  hundreds  of  temples  reared  the  Cross  on  high  ; 
then  comes  Egypt  with  its  hoary  antiquity,  by  the  side 
of  which  Italy  is  young  and  childlike  ;  then  that  holy 
land  which  our  Lord  "  environed  with  his  blessed  feet," 
and  where  Paradise  was  Lost  and  was  Regained.  On 
we  pass  to  old  Tyre,  where,  as  prophecy  foretold,  the 
nets  are  drying  on  the  rocks  ;  and  onward  again,  till 
we  behold  the  waters  breaking  in  the  many  bays  of 
Greece.  There  was  the  last  foothold  of  the  "  flided 
hierarchy "  of  Olympus ;  and  now,  though  songs  are 
hushed  and  dances  stilled  in  that  land,  yet  beauty  has 
everywhere  left  the  wonderful  tokens  of  her  presence. 
And  to  the  shores,  too,  where  we  are,  the  waves  of  this 
sea  have  borne  one  race  after  another  from  the  far  East, 
and  seen  the  feeble  colonies  expand  into  greatness,  until 
their  children  went  forth  to  inherit  the  earth.  What 
wonderful  memories  then  linger  around  this  mighty 
"  valley  of  waters  !  "  ^ 

The  last  few  miles  were  over  the  silent  and  desolate 

1  "  The  valley  of  waters,  widest  next  to  that 
Which  doth  the  earth  engarland." 

Dante.     II  Paj'adiso,  c  ix.  1.  80. 


6        THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

Campagna  —  low  stunted  trees  only  at  times  were  seen, 
and  not  a  habitation  gave  notice  that  we  were  drawing 
nigh  to  a  mighty  city.  Far  as  the  eye  can  reach  is  an 
unbroken  waste,  and  the  mistress  of  the  world  stands 
encircled  by  a  melanclioly  solitude.  Yet  is  it  not  ap- 
propriate that  it  sliould  be  so  ?  About  fair  Naples  are 
lovely  vineyards,  lining  the  road  with  the  rich  festoons 
they  have  hung  from  tree  to  tree  ;  and  from  whichever 
side  you  approach  beautiful  Florence,  whether  from  the 
smiling  fields  of  Tuscany,  or  "  leafy  Valombrosa,"  or 
the  woody  heights  of  Fiesole,  where  Milton  mused  and 
wrote,  there  is  still  the  same  rich  and  lively  scenery. 
All  things  are  in  unison  with  the  gay  and  poetical  char- 
acter of  these  cities.  Should  not  Rome,  then,  the  fallen 
metropolis  of  the  earth,  majestic  even  in  ruins,  be  sur- 
rounded only  by  barrenness  and  decay  ?  Every  object 
should  inspire  thoughts  of  awe  and  melancholy,  as  we 
approach  this  "  Niobe  of  nations,"  standing  thus  — 

"  Childless  and  crownless  in  her  voiceless  woe." 

It  was  late  at  night  when  we  reached  the  nei<rhbor- 
hood  of  "  the  Eternal  City ; "  but  the  moon  was  up, 
shedding  its  light  over  the  whole  landscape,  and  we 
waited  with  eager  impatience  for  our  first  view  of  the 
mistress  of  the  world.  At  length  it  came.  "Roma  !  " 
shouted  the  postilion,  and  at  once  all  heads  were  thrust 
through  the  carriage  windows.  Towers  and  turrets, 
columns  and  cupolas,  rose  before  us,  and  high  above  all, 
the  majestic  dome  of  St.  Peter's  mounting  in  the  air. 
We  were  approaching  the  Porta  Cavalliggeri,  immedi- 
ately in  the  rear  of  that  miracle  of  architecture.  A  few 
moments  more  and  we  reached  it  —  our  passports  were 
inspected  by  the  guard  —  we  entered,  and  were  within 


THE   CHPdSTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.        7 

the  walls  of  Rome.  Our  carriafje  drove  round  close  to 
the  mighty  colonnades  of  St.  Peter's,  stretched  out  far 
on  both  sides  as  if  embracing  the  vast  arena  they  in- 
close ;  then  rose  before  us,  with  its  massive  towers,  the 
Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  once  the  mighty  tomb  — 

"  which  Hadrian  rear'd  on  high, 


Imperial  mimic  of  old  Egypt's  piles." 

We  crossed  the  Tiber,  as  it  sluggishly  wound  along  in 
the  calm  moonlight,  by  the  ancient  Pons  iElius,  and 
around  us  on  every  side  was  the  magnificence  of  which 
we  had  heard  from  our  earliest  years,  —  a  magnificence 
which  still  survives  the  wrecks  of  wars  and  violence,  and 
fapine  and  earthquake,  and  conflagrations  and  floods. 
All  was  the  more  grand  and  solemn  because  not  seen 
in  the  glare  of  day.  The  delusive  visionary  light  and 
deep,  broad  shadows  enlarged  every  portico,  increased 
the  height  of  every  dome  and  tower,  and  left  the  im- 
agination to  fill  up  tlie  gigantic  outline  they  revealed. 
And  thus,  we  felt,  should  Rome  be  seen  for  the  first 
time  ! 


CHAPTER  II. 

VIEW   FROM    THE    TOWER    OF   THE    SENATOR. 

T  takes  some  time  for  one  to  become  accus- 
tomed to  the  thought  that  he  is  in  Rome. 
To  be  actually  living  within  its  walls  —  to 
be  treading  on  the  same  spot  where  the  old 
consuls  walked  —  where  the  Scipios  and  Caesars  played 
that  mighty  game  which  bequeathed  their  names  to  all 
posterity — this  is  the  fulfillment  of  our  early  dreams, 
which  it  is  difficult  for  a  long  while  to  realize.  We 
find  ourselves  insensibly  exclaiming,  "  This  is  Rome  !  '* 
as  if  these  little  words  contained  a  meanino;  we  w^ere 
unable  fully  to  grasp,  and  which  we  were  endeavoring, 
therefore,  to  impress  upon  our  minds.  And  these  feel- 
ings are  natural.  Servius  Sulpicius,  "  the  Roman 
friend  of  Rome's  least  mortal  mind,"  could  be  won  from 
a  remembrance  of  his  own  griefs,  by  a  sight  of  the 
time-worn  ruins  of  ancient  days.  As  lie  gazed  upon 
Megara  and  ^gina,  Corinth  and  the  Piraeus,  he  forgot 
his  private  sorrows,  merging  all  other  feelings  in  his 
sympathy  for  fallen  greatness.^  May  not  we  then, 
wanderers  from  a  distant  continent,  of  whose  very 
existence  the  old  RomaA  was  ignorant,  when  we 
stand  for  the  first  time  in  the  home  of  his  ancient 
glory,  feel  as  if  haunted  by  a  memory  of  the  mighty 
deeds  which  have  been  there  achieved  ? 

1  Middleton's  Cicero,  v.  il.  p.  371. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.        9 

Our  first  object  was  to  gain  a  clear  knowledge  of  the 
situation  of  Rome  and  the  localities  of  the  surroundino- 
country.  This  morning,  therefore,  we  took  our  way 
through  the  Corso  (or  Via  Lata),  passing  the  beautiful 
columns  of  Trajan  and  Antoninus,  with  the  spiral  line  of 
sculpture  winding  from  the  base  to  the  capital  of  each. 
They  are  perfect,  except  that  the  statues  of  the  emper- 
ors have  been  removed,  and  those  of  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul  substituted  in  their  place.  At  the  distance  of  a 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  from  the  ground,  it  is  of  course 
impossible  to  distinguish  an  apostle  from  an  emperor, 
althougli  the  former  seems  very  much  out  of  place 
above  these  sculptured  representations  of  Eastern  wars 
and  heathen  sacrifices.  We  ascended  to  the  Capitol, 
and,  from  the  lofty  tower  of  the  Palace  of  the  Senator, 
beheld  the  country  spread  out  around  us  like  a  pano- 
rama. It  was  a  clear  and  beautiful  day,  so  that  in  the 
transparency  of  an  Italian  atmosphere,  the  most  distant 
points  were  easily  visible.  But  where  on  the  wide  earth 
can  a  single  spot  be  selected,  which  will  command  a 
view  of  so  much  historical  interest !  The  Capitoline  Hill 
stands  between  the  ruins  which  remain  of  old  Rome  and 
the  new  city  which  has  sprung  into  being  on  the  other 
side  —  between  the  ancient  Capitol  of  the  Republic  and 
the  Empire,  and  the  modern  city  of  the  Popes,  which 
has  grown  up  in  the  last  few  centuries.  It  seems,  there- 
fore, to  look  down,  as  it  were,  upon  the  living  and  the 
dead.  On  the  one  hand,  stand  lonely  and  grand  those 
majestic  ruins  —  the  Forum,  with  the  lofty  pillars  of  its 
temples  —  the  Coliseum  —  the  triumphal  arches  of  the 
emperors  —  all,  indeed,  which  eighteen  centuries  of 
war  and  rapine  have  left  us.  Their  venerable  forms 
bear  not  alone  the  furrows  of  age,  but  are  marked  also 


10      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

by  the  traces  of  destruction  and  Gothic  violence.  We 
turn  from  them,  and  on  the  other  hand  are  the  narrow, 
crowded  streets,  and  faintly  there  ascend  to  us  the 
tumult  and  noise  of  busy  life  among  the  thousands  who 
have  inherited  the  name  of  Roman,  without  being 
heirs  to  any  of  the  stem  virtues  which  distinguished 
their  ancestors. 

Let  us  then  place  ourselves  for  an  hour  on  this  hill, 
and  "  begetting  the  time  again  "  out  of  the  recollec- 
tions of  history,  summon  back  the  two  thousand  years 
which  have  gone.  On  this  spot  stood  the  humble  cot- 
tage of  Romulus,  long  preserved  with  pious  care  as  a 
relic  of  their  rude  forefathers.  Here  and  on  the  neigh- 
borinor  Palatine  Mount  were  gathered  his  little  band  of 
colonists,  while  the  surrounding  hills  were  yet  tangled 
wildernesses  of  trees,  and  the  low  grounds  were  marshes 
formed  by  the  overflow  of  the  Tiber.  About  their 
habitations  they  had  erected  a  wall,  which,  if  we  credit 
the  traditionary  stories  of  Livy,  could  have  offered  but 
little  resistance  to  the  many  enemies  who  lived  almost 
at  their  gates.  Years  went  by,  and  one  hostile  nation 
after  another  was  conquered,  and  sometimes,  as  in  the 
case  of  Alba,  the  population  removed  and  incorporated 
among  the  victors.  Thus  the  city  grew,  and  extended 
over  "  the  Seven  Hills,"  whose  outline  we  can  yet 
easily  trace,  though  the  accumulation  of  soil  in  the  val- 
leys has  much  diminished  their  height.  It  was  not, 
however,  till  the  days  of  Aurelian  that  it  attained  its 
extent,  and  by  him  the  walls  were  erected  the  same  in 
circumference  that  they  are  at  this  day.  Then  too  the 
ancient  Campus  Martins  was  taken  in,  which  from  the 
time  of  Servius  Tullius  had  been  without  the  city. 
Where  the  Roman  youth  had  been  for  ages  accustomed 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME,     11 

to  practice  their  martial  exercises,  Augustus  commenced 
the  erection  of  magnificent  buildings.  The  population 
has  since  travelled  northward,  and  gradually  encroached 
upon  it,  until  now  it  is  the  most  thickly  settled  district. 

Thus  it  is  that  the  old  landmarks  connect  the  past 
with  the  present,  and  ancient  Rome  was  the  same  in 
the  circuit  of  its  vast  and  antique  walls  that  the  city  is 
now.  Yet  within  them  how  different  does  everything 
appear !  The  population  has  gradually  diminished, 
until  it  has  become  thinly  scattered  over  this  wide  space. 
Look  over  it,  and  you  behold  wild  fields  mingled  with 
its  habitations,  and  here  and  there  grassy  lanes  winding 
among  ruins,  or  some  hill-top  rising  up  lonely  and  bare, 
apparently  deserted  by  the  foot  of  man.  The  "  yellow 
Tiber"  sweeps  onward,  among  hoary  monuments  which 
bend  over  its  waters.  Heathen  temples  and  the  domes 
of  Christian  churches  —  the  stately  palaces  of  her 
ancient  nobility,  with  around  them  garden  terraces 
rising  one  above  the  other,  glittering  with  pillars  and 
statues,  on  whose  snowy  whiteness  the  climate  produces 
no  change  :  smiling  orange  groves,  their  rich  green 
and  gold  gleaming  in  the  sunshine  ;  the  tall  cypresses, 
with  their  dark  foliage ;  the  stone  pines,  with  their 
broad  flat  tops,  so  oriental  in  appearance  ;  and,  diffused 
over  all,  the  many  tinted,  colored  atmosphere  of  this 
delicious  clime ;  such  is  Rome  as  we  gaze  upon  it 
to-day. 

We  said  in  the  last  chapter  that  the  Campagna  en- 
circled the  city,  and  from  the  elevated  place  on  which 
we  stood,  we  saw  its  flat,  unbroken  surface  stretching 
)ut,  until  it  was  bounded,  like  the  frame  of  some  mighty 
picture,  by  the  Sabine  hills,  about  sixteen  miles  distant. 
It  is  a  waste  of  fern,  with  here  and  there  a  withered 


12      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

pine-tree  breaking  the  dull  uniformity;  yet  generally 
treeless,  and  often  slirubless.  The  roads  of  ancient 
Rome  —  such,  for  example,  as  the  Appian  Way  —  pass 
over  it,  lined  with  the  remains  of  tombs,  which,  though 
now  in  ruins,  are  so  beautifully  picturesque  that  they 
are  the  admiration  of  the  painter,  and  form  always  the 
finest  feature  in  his  landscape.  At  a  distance,  too,  may 
be  seen  the  long  line  of  arches  of  the  Claudian  Aque- 
duct, the  most  massive  ruin  without  the  walls.  But 
from  the  surface  of  the  ground,  the  noxious  malaria  is 
constantly  rising,  and  malignant  sickness  cuts  down  the 
shepherds  who  have  made  their  home  in  the  old  ruined 
tombs. 

And  yet  it  is  evident  that  this  dreary  waste  must 
once  have  been  covered  with  cities,  and  inhabited  by 
a  busy  population.  Among  the  fifty  nations  enumer- 
ated by  Pliny  as  belonging  to  Latium  in  an  early  day, 
and  which  had  entirely  disappeared,  he  places  no  less 
than  thirty-three  towns  within  the  compass  of  what 
are  now  the  Pontine  Marshes.^  The  Fidenae  were 
only  five,  and  the  Gabii  ten  miles  from  Rome,  and 
yet  so  few  vestiges  of  their  existence  remained,  that 
when  Horace  wishes  to  convey  an  idea  of  perfect  deso- 
lation, he  says^  — 

"  Gabiis  desertior  atque, 
Fidenis  vicus." 

Ancient  writers  tell  us,  indeed,  that  from  Rome  to 
Ostia,  a  space  of  sixteen  miles,  the  whole  road  was 
lined  with  buildings  ;  and  Florus  calls  Tibur,  which  is 
about  the  same  distance  over  the  Campagna,  a  suburb 
of  Rome.  "  Whoever,"  says  Dionysius,  "  wishes  to 
ascertain  the  size  of  Rome,  will  be  led  into  error, 
I  Wst.  Nat.  iii.  5.  2  Ej)/s.  i.  xl.  7. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.      13 

and  have  no  certain  mark  to  decide  how  far  the  city 
reaches,  or  where  it  begins  not  to  be  city ;  the  country 
is  so  connected  with  the  town,  and  ^ives  those  who  see 
it  an  idea  of  a  city  infinitely  extended."^  This  certainly 
presents  a  very  different  picture  from  Rome  as  it  is  at 
the  present  day,  hemmed  in  by  its  walls,  and  all  with- 
out them  a  desolate  solitude.  Tacitus,  however,  states 
that  in  the  reio-n  of  Claudius  the  inhabitants  amounted 

o 

to  nearly  six  millions ;  ^  a  population  which  could  not 
have  been  contained  within  the  walls,  and  must  have 
been  widely  spread  over  the  Campagna  itself 

The  causes  of  this  change,  however,  are  obvious.  As 
long  ago  as  the  days  of  Strabo,  the  marshes  on  the 
coast  rendered  that  part  of  the  country  unhealthy. 
These  must  gradually  have  encroached  on  the  interior, 
their  poisonous  exhalations  been  borne  farther  and 
farther  by  the  sea-breeze,  and  the  evil  of  course  gone 
on  more  rapidly,  wlien  a  place  became  uninhabited. 
Now  the  Campagna  was  wasted  by  successive  hordes  of 
invaders  to  the  very  walls  of  Rome.  We  can  see  to  this 
day  the  traces  of  their  progress.  The  northern  side  of 
the  city,  from  which  direction  they  came,  is  more  ruin- 
ous than  the  rest,  while  the  antiquities  on  the  southern 
part  are  in  the  best  preservation.  When,  therefore, 
the  population  was  driven  within  the  walls,  and  the 
open  country  became  deserted,  a  few  seasons  would 
transform  all  without  into  a  desolate  wilderness,  and 
then  the  rank  herbage  would  gradually  conceal  the 
ruins. 

And  so  it  has  remained  for  centuries,  becoming  each 
age  more  dreary,  and,  except  the  tombs,  and  here  and 
there  a  mound  of  loose  stones,  there  are  no  traces  of  the 

1  Lib.  iv.  2  An.  lib.  xi.  c.  25. 


14      THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

nations  which  once  inhabited  those  extensive  tracts. 
In  winter,  you  may  see  upon  it  thousands  of  the  large 
gray  Tuscan  oxen,  with  their  mild  eyes  and  long 
horns ;  the  descendants  of  the  white  cattle  of  whom 
Virgil  speaks.  At  intervals,  a  herdsman,  one  of  the 
gaunt  massari,  is  watching  them,  and  in  his  picturesque 
costume  —  a  broad  hat  flapped  over  the  eyes,  sheep- 
skin cloak,  and  carrying  a  long  lance,  while  the  gun  is 
sluno-  at  his  side  —  he  seems  wilder  even  than  the 
fiery  horse  on  which  he  dashes  about.  Vast  herds 
of  buffaloes,  too,  of  a  dingy  color,  introduced  from 
foreign  lands  into  Tuscany  by  Lorenzo  de  Medici, 
but  since  naturalized  all  over  Italy,  roam  on  the 
Campagna,  and  with  their  wild,  red  eye,  bent  neck, 
and  lowering  aspect,  they  seem  to  w^arn  the  passer-by 
not  to  approach  too  near  their  short  curved  horns. 

But  when  the  summer  comes,  the  cattle  are  driven  to 
the  pastures  of  the  Sabine  hills,  or  even  the  more  dis- 
tant mountains  of  the  Abruzzi.  Then  each  day  the  heat 
increases,  until  the  air  seems  like  a  sea  of  fire.  Even 
the  shade  of  night  brings  no  relief,  and  the  only  breeze 
which  blows  through  the  sultry  atmosphere  is  the  hot 
sirocco.  The  grass  is  burnt  up,  the  stagnant  water  in- 
fects the  air,  and  even  the  Tiber  seems  to  have  shrunk 
from  its  banks  to  half  its  usual  breadth.  No  cloud,  no 
rain,  no  cooling  wind  ;  nothing  but  the  hot  rays  of  the 
sun  beating  down  on  the  parched  ground.  Every 
breath  from  the  sulphurous  atmosphere  seems  to  kindle 
a  scorching  fever  in  the  blood,  and  the  wild  buffaloes 
are  roused  to  madness  by  the  myriads  of  stinging  in- 
sects which  swarm  the  heated  air.  Thus  for  months 
on  the  wide  Campagna,  life  seems  almost  insupportable. 
But  even  at  this  season,  when  the  heats  are  so  terrific 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     15 

and  the  malaria  is  most  deadly,  there  are  materials 
there  from  which  death  can  reap  his  harvest.  About 
once  in  four  years  certain  portions  of  this  desolate  tract 
are  planted,  and  the  summer  is  the  time  of  harvest. 
"  The  peasants  from  the  Volscian  hills,  and  from  be- 
yond the  frontier,  come  down  into  the  plain  to  earn  a 
few  crowns  for  the  ensuing  winter ;  they  work  in  the 
liarvest-field  all  day  under  a  scorching  sun,  and  at 
night  sleep  on  the  damp  earth,  from  which  the  low, 
heavy  vapor  of  the  pestilent  malaria  begins  to  rise  at 
sunset.  Even  the  stronorest  and  healthiest  are  often 
struck  down  in  a  single  week  :  before  the  harvest  is 
gathered  in,  hundreds  of  hardy  mountaineers  have  per- 
ished on  the  plain,  and  those  who  survive  either  die  on 
their  return  home  or  bear  the  mark  of  the  pestilence 
for  life."  Such  is  the  Campagna,  which  has  usurped 
the  place  where  the  busy  thousands  of  Imperial  Rome 
once  dwelt.  How  invaluable  to  us  would  be  a  view  of 
the  city  as  it  was  in  those  its  palmy  days  !  Charle- 
magne, we  are  told,  had  "  fairc  silver  tables  "  made,  on 
which  were  engravings  of  Constantinople  and  Rome. 
The  one  which  contained  the  plan  of  Rome  was  given 
by  him  to  the  Church  of  Ravenna.  If  this  could  be 
recovered,  what  a  treasure  would  it  be  to  the  historical 
student ! 

But  let  us  resume  the  map  and  continue  our  view. 
Beyond  the  Campagna  rises  the  chain  of  richly  wooded 
mountains  of  which  we  have  already  spoken.  But  of 
what  chanjrincr  scenes  have  those  heights  been  the 
mute  observers,  since  first  the  land  around  them  lay 
silent  and  untenanted,  when  the  waters  of  the  deluge 
had  gone  !  They  beheld  one  race  after  another  come 
from   the  East,  and  strange  rites  and   sacrifices  per- 


16      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

formed  on  those  Seven  Hills,  and  tlie  wide  plain  be- 
tween. The  Etruscans  laid  deep  their  massive  archi- 
tecture, and  then  passed  away  so  entirely  that  even 
their  language  has  perished,  and  the  inscriptions  they 
recorded  on  the  solid  rock,  later  generations  cannot  in- 
terpret. Then  came  a  wilder  race,  which  gradually 
rose  to  power,  until  the  Roman  name  filled  the  earth. 
One  by  one  their  enemies  fell  before  them.  On  that 
long  ridge  once  stood  Alba  Longa,  whose  ruin  Livy  has 
immortalized.  There  dwelt  the  Samnites,  and  that 
little  stream,  the  Anio,  which  still  goes  murmuring  on 
its  way  to  join  the  Tiber  on  the  plain,  then  separated 
their  country  from  Latium.  The  Gauls  came,  and 
on  that  crest  of  rocks  is  the  Arx  Libana  of  Livy,  to 
which  they  were  driven  back  when  attacking  the  city. 
The  Carthaginians,  too,  entered  the  arena  of  conflict ; 
and  there,  to  the  left  of  the  Alban  Mount,  is  still 
pointed  out  the  small,  open  plain,  on  which  they  were 
encamped  while  they  besieged  Rome.  What  con- 
sternation must  have  been  felt  around  the  Capitoline 
Hill,  while  these  events  w^re  going  on  !  What  noise 
and  busy  note  of  preparation  were  heard,  as  the  armed 
legions  of  Rome  marched  down  its  sides,  and  went 
forth  to  fight  for  their  homes  and  altars  !  How  dif- 
ferent from  the  stillness  which  now  rests  upon  this 
spot,  where  nothing  is  seen  but  these  old  and  hoary 
ruins. 

But  all  these  nations  were  crushed  beneath  the  iron 
tread  of  the  conquerors.  Then  the  whole  landscape 
became  crowded  with  works  of  art.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  city  crossed  the  wide  Campagna,  and  even  the 
Sabine  hills  were  transformed  into  the  seats  of  Roman 
luxury.     Eveiy  valley  and  peak  was  consecrated  by 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     17 

Roman  genius.  That  lofty  mountain  in  the  dim  di» 
tance,  now  covered  with  snow  and  so  dazzling  white 
as  the  sunbeams  play  upon  it,  Horace  celebrated  as  the 
"  gelidus  Algidus."  That  height  he  speaks  of  as  "  Lu- 
cretilis  ; "  and  that  opening  of  the  plain  between  the 
hills  is  his  "  frigidum  Praeneste."  How  often,  too,  in 
his  lyrics,  does  he  sing  the  beauties  of  the  ancient 
Tibur ;  that  little  place  which  you  can  just  perceive 
almost  buried  in  its  woods  and  olive  groves  ! 

Cicero  has  also  left  his  name  associated  with  those 
hills,  for  there  was  the  site  of  his  far-famed  Tusculum. 
He  purchased  the  villa,  whicli  had  once  belonged  to 
Sylla  the  Dictator,  filled  it  with  all  the  magnificence 
which  art  in  that  age  of  luxury  could  devise,  and  to 
its  library  —  adorned,  we  are  told,  with  statues  of  the 
Muses  —  or  to  the  cool  groves  which  surrounded  it,  he 
retired  from  the  strife  of  the  busy  city.  From  its 
noble  portico  he  could  look  over  the  wide  landscape, 
until  the  view  was  terminated  by  the  splendors  of 
Rome  itself;  and  here  he  has  laid  the  scene  of  some 
of  his  philosophical  works,  the  "  De  Divinatione,"  and 
the  "  Tusculan  Questions."  Beyond  his  retreat,  on  the 
highest  point  in  the  chain  of  hills,  was  the  sacred  grove 
of  the  Alban  Mount ;  and  towering  above  it,  in  sight 
not  only  of  the  surrounding  countr}'  but  of  Rome  itself, 
stood  the  magnificent  Temple  of  Jupiter  Latiaris.  How 
often  must  the  patriot  and  consul  have  turned  to  it 
with  the  deepest  reverence  I  There,  once  in  each 
year,  the  Latin  tribes  assembled  to  hold  their  sacred 
festival,  and  together  they  offered  common  sacrifice  to 
the  tutelar  deity  of  the  nation.^     The  Roman  generals 

1  Eustace,  Ciass.  Tour.  vii.  p.  94. 
2 


18       THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

repaired  thitlier  in  the  hour  of  their  triumph,  to  return 
thanks  for  victory ;  and  on  one  occasion,  when  Cicero 
iiimself  was  pleading  for  Milo,  he  turned  his  eyes  to 
that  temple,  in  full  view  from  where  he  stood  in  the 
Forum,  and  burst  forth  with  the  eloquent  apostrophe, 
"  Tuque  ex  tuo  edito  monte,  Latiaris  Sancte  Jupiter, 
cujus  ille  lacus  nemora  finesque,"  etc.  From  that 
mount,  too,  Virgil  represents  the  Queen  of  Heaven  as 
watching  the  changing  fortunes  of  the  battle,  when 
the  Latin  and  Trojan  forces  were  arrayed  on  the  plain 
beneath.  With  new  interest,  indeed,  we  read  the  last 
books  of  the  ^Eneid,  when  we  have  before  us  the  hills, 
the  groves,  the  winding  Tiber ;  the  very  scenes  which 
the  poet  has  there  described. 

Thus  it  is  that  the  spirit  of  the  past  broods  over 
every  portion  of  this  haunted  land.  Men  may  change, 
one  race  after  another  pass  away,  the  very  monuments 
they  have  left  perish  ;  yet  still  the  features  of  nature 
remain  the  same.  The  mountains  are  there,  and  the 
streams,  and  the  Seven  Hills,  and  the  wide  plains,  into 
whose  bosom,  through  the  silent  lapse  of  centuries,  the 
ancient  cities  have  gradually  been  sinking,  until  now  the 
Spring,  with  her  flowery  veil,  conceals  their  ruins  en- 
tirely from  our  eyes.  The  valleys  are  unaltered,  and 
the  cliffs  look  down  upon  them  as  of  old,  except  that 
the  long  ages  as  they  w^ent  by  have  w^ritten  there  the 
chronicles  of  their  flight.  These  pass  not  away,  and, 
therefore,  every  old  historic  association  can  find  its 
home.  And  so  it  is  in  every  part  of  this  land,  which 
Poetry  has  consecrated  and  made  her  own.  The 
very  forms  of  vegetable  life,  the  trees  and  fragile 
flowers,  carry  us  back  two  thousand  years  into  the 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.       19 

bosom  of  the  past.  The  ilex  yet  waves  upon  the 
heights  of  Mount  Alburnus,  as  when  Virgil  wrote  his 
Georgics  ;  about  the  site  of  Tusculum.  the  plane-tree 
blooms  as  luxuriantly  as  it  did  when  Cicero,  in  his 
introduction  to  "  De  Oratore,"  speaks  of  its  "  over- 
shadowing the  spot  with  its  spreading  boughs ; "  and 
twice  in  each  year,  when  May  and  December  come 
round,  "  the  roses  with  their  double  Spring  "  (hiferi 
rosaria  Pcesti)  still  blossom  among  the  ruined  temples 
of  Paestum,  with  that  renewing  sweetness  which  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  Ovid,  and  furnished  a  beauti- 
ful simile  to  grace  the  writings  of  Propertius. 

The  last  few  pages  have  scarcely  enumerated  the 
objects  of  interest  which  crowd  upon  us,  as  we  gaze 
this  morning  from  the  lofty  tower  of  the  Palace  of  the 
Senator.  To  the  reader  they  may,  perchance,  present 
only  a  dull  catalogue  of  names  ;  but  to  us,  Avith  the 
scenes  themselves  before  our  eyes,  there  is  a  life  and  a 
reality  in  everything.  From  the  cloudy  past,  twenty- 
five  centuries  rise  up  to  meet  us,  as  we  look  upon  those 
places  which  are  "  famiHar  in  our  mouths  as  household 
words."  It  is  at  such  times,  too,  that  the  spirit  of 
our  own  early  days  returns,  and  passages  of  Virgil  and 
Horace,  which  we  studied  at  the  school-desk,  call  up 
again  the  friendships  of  our  boyhood.  The  present  is 
forgotten.  The  weary  cares  of  manhood  fade  away, 
and  "  the  heat  and  burden  "  beneath  which  we  are  now 
laboring,  is  unfelt.  The  Spring  of  life  returns  in  all  its 
freshness.  Friends,  whose  faces  we  can  never  more 
see  in  the  flesh,  gather  about ;  famiHar  voices  fall  upon 
the  ear  with  a  startling  distinctness  ;  and  scarcely  real- 
izing that  all  this  is  only  of  the  imagination,  wb  bless 


20       THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLY  DAYS  IN  ROME. 

the  associations  which  can  produce  the  change.  For  a 
brief  and  sunny  interval  we  even  doubt  the  truth  of 
that  melancholy  song  of  the  German  students,  — ■ 

—  "  the  gladness  of  our  youthful  prime,  — 
It  cometh  not  again,  —  that  golden  time !  " 


CHAPTER  III. 

ST.  Peter's  church. 

HE  first  thought  in  Rome  is  of  St.  Peter's. 
We  have,  of  course,  often  been  there,  for 
wlien  there  is  nothing  else  immediately  to 
occupy  our  attention,  we  can  repair  to  this 
mighty  temple,  and  find  a  subject  for  study  which  is  in- 
exhaustible. Instead,  however,  of  vainly  attempting  a 
description  —  for  every  effort  of  this  kind  for  centuries 
has  proved  that  no  words  can  give  any  idea  of  this  un- 
rivaled edifice  —  we  would  rather  note  down  a  few  of 
the  impressions  left  upon  the  mind. 

The  way  which  led  to  it  was  through  a  series  of 
narrow,  winding  streets,  crowded  with  a  miserable 
population,  deeply  demoralized,  and  crushed  to  the 
earth  by  indigence.  At  length  we  reached  the  Castle 
of  St.  Angelo,  and  from  this  spot  a  broad  avenue  opened 
before  us  to  the  massive  colonnades  of  St.  Peter's. 
Our  first  view  of  the  exterior  by  daylight  disappointed 
us,  for  when  seen  from  this  point  it  is  certainly  not 
imposing.  The  fa9ade  is  allowed  to  be  disproportioned 
to  the  building,  and  too  much  conceals  the  dome.  We 
have  since  examined,  in  the  library  of  the  Vatican,  a 
copy  of  Michael  Angelo's  original  plan,  in  which  this 
defect  is  avoided,  and  the  whole  front  appears  more 
grand  and  striking.  His  drawing  of  the  facade  closely 
resembles  the  portico  of  the  Pantheon. 


22      THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

In  the  open  square  in  front,  stands  an  ancient  obelisk, 
which  points  up  to  heaven,  tapering  away  as  if  it  seemed 
to  lose  itself  in  the  air.  Caligula  brought  it  from 
"  old  hushed  Egypt"  to  adorn  his  baths,  and  a  Pope 
placed  it  in  front  of  St.  Peter's.  On  each  side  of  it  is 
a  fountain,  which  flings  up  its  column  of  water,  as  if 
into  the  clouds,  where  it  seems  to  pause  for  a  moment, 
reflecting  back  the  changing  colors  of  the  sky,  and  then 
falling  into  its  porphyry  basin,  the  thousand  hues  are 
lost  in  one  dazzling  sheet  of  foam.  But  who  pauses  to 
dwell  on  these  when  the  temple  itself  is  before  them  ! 
We  ascend  the  broad  marble  steps,  put  aside  the 
heavy  curtain  which  veils  the  entrance,  and  the  sen- 
sations of  the  next  few  minutes  are  worth  a  year  of 
commonplace  life. 

The  first  effect  on  every  one  must  be  bewildering. 
He  sees  gathered  before  him  treasures  of  art  of  which 
before  he  could  scarcely  have  conceived,  and  all  en- 
shrined in  a  building  which  mocks  any  comparison  with 
the  gorgeous  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  or  those  magnificent 
fanes  which  the  worshippers  of  the  old  mythology  raised 
to  their  fabled  deities.  For  more  than  three  centuries, 
the  energies  and  wealth  of  thirty-five  Pontiffs  were 
devoted  to  this  work,  and  the  aid  of  the  whole  Chris- 
tian world  was  invoked  to  render  it  a  temple  worthy 
of  the  Most  High.  Eustace  estimates  that  the  build- 
ing itself  cost  twelve  millions  sterling.  Everywhere, 
indeed,  we  see  marbles,  bronzes,  and  precious  materials, 
which  were  gathered  in  Rome  during  the  luxurious 
days  of  the  Empire,  but  are  nowhere  else  to  be  found 
in  such  profusion.  We  realize,  indeed,  that  here  man 
has  exhausted  the  treasures  of  his  genius  and  his 
worldly  wealth. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.      23 

Almost  every  traveller  states  that  his  first  impres- 
sions were  those  of  disappointment.  The  interior  did 
not  appear  as  vast  as  he  expected.  The  reason  of  this, 
undoubtedly,  is,  because  we  have  no  received  exj)e- 
rience  by  which  to  judge  its  proportions.  The  eyes 
are  "  fools  of  the  senses  ;  "  and  here  occurs  a  case  in 
which  they  have  not  been  trained  to  convey  a  correct 
estimate.^  But  with  me,  I  confess,  this  was  not  the 
case.  Having  been  told  so  often  that  I  should  be  dis- 
appointed, I  was  prepared  for  it,  and,  therefore,  ex- 
pected too  little.  Slowly  we  passed  up  the  nave,  until 
we  found  ourselves  opposite  to  the  High  Altar.  Above 
it  rises  a  canopy,  more  than  a  hundred  and  thirty  feet 
in  height,  its  twisted  columns  of  Corinthian  brass 
covered  with  golden  foliage,  while  beneath  rests  the 
body  of  St.  Peter,  around  whose  tomb  a  hundred  lamps 
are  burning  day  and  night.  We  stand  under  the  dome 
and  look  up,  when  an  abyss  seems  to  open  above  us. 
We  can  scarcely  believe  that  its  top  is  four  hundred 
feet  from  the  marble  pavement.  The  inscription  on 
the  frieze  does  not  seem  very  large,  yet  each  letter  is 
six  feet  high,  and  the  pen  in  the  hand  of  St.  Mark  is  of 
the  same  length,  although  fi'om  where  we  stand  the 
whole  figure  of  the  saint  does  not  appear  to  be  much 
beyond  the  ordinary  stature.     The  mighty  dome  ex- 

1  "Our  outward  sense 
Is  but  of  gradual  grasp  —  and  as  it  is 
That  what  we  have  of  feeling  most  intense 
Outstrips  our  faint  expression ;  even  so  this 
Outshining  and  o'erwhelming  edifice 
Fools  our  fond  gaze,  and  greatest  of  the  great, 
Defies  at  first  our  nature's  littleness, 
Till  growing  with  its  growth,  we  thus  dilate 
Our  spirits  to  the  size  of  that  they  contemplate." 

Childe  Harold. 


24      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

pands  above  us  like  the  firmament,  and  within  are 
pictured  in  rich  mosaic  the  saints  and  celestial  spirits 
looking  upward  and  worshipping  towards  the  throne 
of  the  Eternal,  which,  encircled  with  radiance,  crowns 
this  dizzy  height. 

At  our  first  visit  we  spent  almost  the  whole  day 
going  over  each  part  in  detail,  and  every  little  while 
stopping,  and  vainly  endeavoring  by  one  effort  of  the 
mind  to  grasp  the  mighty  proportions  of  the  building. 
The  figures  which  occasionally  moved  across  the  mar- 
ble pavement  seemed  dwarfed  into  pigmies,  and  we 
could  scarcely  realize  that  this  vast  structure,  with  its 
gorgeous  profusion  of  paintings,  and  marbles,  and  gild- 
ing, could  have  been  erected  by  those  who,  in  com- 
parison, appeared  so  insignificant.  This  Church  has, 
indeed,  a  spirit  within  it,  which  is  possessed  by  none 
other  that  we  have  ever  entered.  It  is  sufficient  to 
preserve  a  faith  in  existence  centuries  after  its  life  has 
gone. 

The  very  temperature  of  the  building  is  remarkable, 
being  always  uniform ;  mild  and  pleasant  in  winter, 
and  cool  in  summer,  when  the  heat  of  the  sun  is  so 
intense  above  as  almost  to  melt  the  lead.  Professor 
Playfair  accounts  for  it  on  the  supposition,  that  the 
immense  edifice  absorbs  so  much  heat  during  the  sum- 
mer, that  it  never  wholly  discharges  it  throughout  the 
winter.  However  this  may  be,  the  atmosphere  is 
always  delightful ;  no  damp  air  is  perceived  ;  nothing 
but  the  slight  perfume  of  the  incense  which  is  wafted 
from  some  side  chapel  where  service  is  performing. 

"We  passed  around,  and  wandered  from  aisle  to  aisle, 
and  from  chapel  to  chapel,  finding  on  all  sides  the  same 
lavish  magnificence.     Everything  is  in   perfect  keep- 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     25 

ing,  the  statues  themselves  being  gigantic  to  harmo- 
nize with  the  building.  Around  us  were  the  gorgeous 
monuments  of  the  Popes,  on  which  the  ablest  sculptors 
of  the  last  three  centuries  had  exhausted  their  skill : 
the  masterpiece  of  Canova,  erected  to  the  memory  of 
Clement  XIII.,  with  its  Genius  of  Death,  holding  the 
inverted  torch,  and  the  sleeping  lion  below,  the  finest 
efforts  of  the  modern  chisel ;  and  the  marble  group  of  the 
Virgin  supporting  "  The  Dead  Christ,"  a  most  touch- 
ing work,  which  first  established  the  fame  of  Michael 
Angelo.  There  was  one  before  which  we  particularly 
paused,  because  it  bore,  sculptured  on  the  enduring 
marble,  so  plain  a  record  of  the  high-handed  oppression 
of  the  Papal  power  during  the  Middle  Ages.  It  was 
the  tomb  of  the  celebrated  Countess  Matilda,  who,  in 
the  days  of  Hildebrand,  was  the  powerful  ally  of  the 
Church,  bequeathing  to  it  also  at  her  death  her  valu- 
able patrimony  in  Tuscany,  a  portion  of  which  is  still 
held  by  the  Papal  See.  Living  in  the  very  crisis  of 
that  conflict  between  the  feudal  system  and  the  power 
of  the  Church,  so  well  did  she  aid  the  latter  in  gaining 
its  triumph,  that  she  deserved  her  burial-place  in  its 
noblest  temple.  Five  centuries  after  her  death,  Urban 
VIII.  removed  her  body  from  the  Benedictine  Monas- 
tery, near  Mantua,  and  deposited  it  beneath  this  stately 
monument.  Does  that  statue,  which  Bernini  has 
placed  above  her  tomb,  represent  her  as  she  was  in 
her  living  day  ?  We  may  believe  so,  for  it  embodies 
our  own  idea  of  that  stern  woman,  as  she  sits  there 
frowning  in  the  marble,  holding  in  her  hands  the  keys 
and  the  Papal  tiara.  But  it  is  on  the  sides  of  the 
sarcophagus  below,  that  we  see  portrayed  the  scene 
she  aided  to  bring  about,  and  which  she  considered  her 
chief  glory 


26      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME, 

When  Henry,  the  young  Emperor  of  Germany,  had 
been  excommunicated  by  Gregory  YII.,  to  obtain  an 
interview  with  his  rival  and  rescue  himself  from  the 
anathema,  he  was  obliged  to  cross  the  Alps  in  the 
depth  of  winter,  over  fields  and  precipices  of  ice  which 
could  only  be  traversed  on  foot.  His  object  was,  to 
throw  himself  at  the  Pontiff's  feet  and  obtain  absolu- 
tion ;  but  he  found  this  spiritual  autocrat  in  Matilda's 
strong  mountain  fortress  of  Canossa  in  the  Apennines, 
and  for  a  time  every  avenue  was  barred  against  him. 
At  length  Gregory  consented  that  the  Emperor  should 
enter  the  fortress  in  the  garb  of  a  penitent,  to  receive 
his  sentence.  Then  was  witnessed,  what  we  may  well 
consider  the  most  extraordinary  scene  in  the  annals  of 
the  Papacy.  It  was  on  a  morning  in  January,  1077, 
when  the  cold  was  intense,  the  mountain  streams 
frozen,  and  the  ground  white  with  snow,  that  earth's 
greatest  monarch  of  that  day  was  seen,  barefooted,  and 
clothed  only  in  a  thin  linen  penitential  garment,  toiling 
mournfully  and  alone  up  to  the  rocky  castle  of  Canossa. 
He  passed  two  gateways,  but  found  the  third  closed 
against  him.  It  was  at  sunrise  that  he  appeared  in 
this  humiliating  state,  and  there  he  remained  hour 
after  hour,  cold  and  faint,  the  object  of  wonder  to  the 
crowds  which  had  gathered  to  the  spectacle.  But  the 
gates  opened  not,  and  at  sunset  he  was  forced  to  retire, 
the  object  of  his  bitter  penance  still  unaccomplished. 
Again  the  dawning  day  found  him  at  his  post,  humbled 
and  dispirited,  while  within  the  castle  the  proud  Pontiff 
who  was  trampling  him  to  the  ground,  held  his  regal 
court  with  princes  gathered  around  him.  Yet  the 
second  day  passed  like  the  first,  and  the  third  followed 
it,  while  the  wretched  king  was  suing  in  vain  for  ad- 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     27 

mittance,  and  Gregory  was  prolonging,  what  has  been 
well  termed,  "  this  profane  and  hollow  parody  on  the 
real  workings  of  the  broken  and  contrite  heart."  But 
human  endurance  could  bear  it  no  longer,  and  the 
monarch  rushed  from  this  scene  of  suiFerins:  to  a 
neighboring  chapel,  to  beseech  on  his  knees  the  in- 
tercession of  his  kinswoman  Matilda,  and  the  venerable 
Abbot  of  Cluni.  For  several  days  all  within  the  castle, 
even  with  tears,  had  entreated  the  Pope  to  end  this 
painful  scene,  and  reproaches  of  wanton  tyranny  were 
heard  from  his  own  adherents  ;  but  he  remained  inex- 
orable. At  length,  when  Henry  had  reached  the 
fourth  day  of  his  penance,  Gregory  consented  that, 
still  barefooted  and  in  his  penitential  garment,  he 
should  be  brought  into  his  presence. 

This  is  the  point  of  time  which  the  artist  has  chosen. 
The  youthful  King  —  for  he  was  only  twenty-six  —  re- 
duced at  last  to  vassalage  to  the  Church  —  his  fiery 
spirit  utterly  crushed  by  the  miseiy  of  the  last  three 
days,  and  the  shame  that  weighed  him  down  — 
crouches  abjectly  at  the  feet  of  his  oppressor,  as  if 
submitting  his  neck  to  be  trodden  on.  The  Italian 
Court  are  around,  the  witnesses  of  his  degradation, 
while  above  him  stands  Gregory,  proud  and  haughty 
in  his  mien,  —  the  very  incarnation  of  mitred  tyranny. 
Matilda  is  there,  rejoicing  in  her  kinsman's  indignities ; 
and  Hugh,  the  Abbot  of  Cluni,  who  had  administered 
to  Henry  in  his  infancy  the  rite  of  baptism ;  and  Azzo, 
Marquis  of  Este  ;  and  Adelaide  of  Susa,  and  her  son, 
Amadeus,  all  calmly  beholding  these  acts  of  spiritual 
despotism  and  relentless  severity,  performed  by  one 
claiming  to  be  the  Vicar  of  Him  who  was  "  meek  and 
lowly  of  heart." 


28      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLTDAYS  IN  ROME. 

Is  this  a  scene  wliicli  it  is  well  to  perpetuate  in  the 
Tinchano-ino;  marble  ?  On  one  occasion  at  least  it  would 
have  been  better  for  the  Papal  power  if  this  record  of 
its  triumph  had  not  been  quite  so  prominent.  We  are 
told,  that  on  the  visit  of  the  Emperor  Joseph  II.  to  St. 
Peter's,  Avhen  he  came  to  this  monument,  he  regarded 
it  for  a  moment  with  fixed  attention,  and  then  turned 
away  with  a  blush  of  indignation  and  a  bitter  smile. 
We  all  know  the  Kaiser's  future  course  ;  but  might 
not  the  remembrance  of  that  hour  in  St.  Peter's  have 
strengthened  his  purpose  of  a  philosophical  reforma- 
tion, to  depress  and  curb,  in  his  own  dominions,  a 
power  which  could  become  so  tyrannous  ? 

"  There  is  but  one  painting  in  St.  Peter's  :  see  if 
you  can  find  it ! "  said  a  friend  to  me  the  day  before 
our  first  visit.  As  we  looked  round  the  Church,  his 
words  recurred  to  us,  and  we  wondered  what  he  could 
have  meant.  There  was  an  immense  picture  over 
every  altar,  and  in  every  chapel,  and  we  recognized 
copies  of  the  noblest  masterpieces  on  sacred  subjects. 
It  was  not  until  we  had  been  there  some  hours,  that  we 
discovered,  with  one  exception,  they  were  mosiacs,  — 
the  colors,  and  lights,  and  shades  being  all  so  admirably 
imitated,  that  they  rival  the  choicest  works  of  the  pen- 
cil. And  probably  centuries  after  the  hues  on  the 
canvas  have  faded,  these  brilliant  copies  will  preserve 
to  the  world  a  true  record  of  the  artist's  genius.  Time 
has  already  wrought  its  changes  in  the  "  Transfigura- 
tion "  of  Raphael ;  yet  here  is  a  duplicate  in  the  un- 
changing stone,  which  even  now  begins  to  convey  a 
truer  idea  of  that  great  painter's  conception,  than  the 
much  cherished  original  in  the  Vatican.  How  deeply  is 
it  to  be  regretted,  that  among  them  we  have  not  Da 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLY  DAYS  IN  ROME.       29 

Vinci's  "  Last  Supper,"  which  exists  now  only  as  a  fresco 
at  Milan,  the  damp  fast  obliterating  its  colors,  so  that 
to  the  next  generation  its  beauty  will  be  entirely  gone  ! 
"  How  long  will  that  picture  last  ? "  Napoleon  once 
asked,  as  he  was  looking  at  a  beautiful  painting.  "  Per- 
haps five  hundred  years,"  was  the  answer.  "  And 
such,"  said  the  Emperor,  with  a  smile  of  scorn,  "  is  a 
painter's  immortality  !  "  The  builders  of  this  magnifi- 
cent pile  seem  to  have  shared  these  feelings,  and  to 
have  determined  that  nothing  should  be  here  which,  in 
the  lapse  of  time,  might  perish. 

But  in  the  wide  transepts  is  a  sight  which  cannot 
but  arrest  the  attention  of  every  one  who  is  sighing  for 
Catholic  Unity,  and  remind  him  of  those  days  when 
every  nation  acknowledged  the  same  faith,  and  with 
one  voice  professed  the  same  creed.  There  are  ar- 
ranged the  boxes  for  the  confessional,  in  every  lan- 
guage. Not  only  are  those  of  Europe  to  be  seen 
inscribed  over  these  places,  but  also  its  various  dialects, 
and  the  strange  tongues  of  the  East.  Thus,  the  wan- 
derer from  every  land,  who  worsliips  in  these  rites,  be- 
holds provision  made  for  his  spiritual  wants.  "  Thero 
is  one  spot  where  the  pilgrim  always  finds  his  home. 
We  are  all  one  people  when  we  come  before  the  Altar 
of  the  Lord."  ^  Such  are  represented  as  the  words  of 
Marco  Polo,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  here,  to  the 
member  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  they  are  realized. 
He  comes  to  what  he  regards  as  the  Mother  Church 
of  Christendom,  and  learns  that  he  is  not  a  stranger  or 
an  alien.  He  can  unburden  himself  to  a  priest  of  his 
own  land,  and  the  consolations  of  his  faith  are  doubly 
sweet,  when  conveyed  to  him  in  the  familiar  words  of 
1  Sir  Francis  Palgrave's  Merchant  and  Friar,  p.  138. 


30       THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

"his  own  tongue,  wherein  he  was  born."  With  the 
errors  of  Rome,  we  have  no  sympathy ;  we  feel  and 
reahze  how  much  she  has  fallen  from  the  simplicity  of 
the  faith ;  yet  Catholic  traits  like  this,  none  but  the 
most  prejudiced  can  refuse  to  admire.  They  show  the 
far-reaching  wisdom  of  that  Church  ;  that  overlooking 
the  distinctions  of  climate  and  country,  and  recognizing 
her  field  of  labor  to  extend  wherever  there  is  a  de- 
graded being  to  listen  to  her  message,  she  is  resolute 
to  "  inherit  the  earth." 

But  this  vast  edifice  is  never  filled,  not  even,  w^e  are 
told,  upon  the  coronation  of  a  Pope.  It  is  only,  in- 
deed, on  a  few  great  festivals  that  service  is  performed 
in  the  body  of  the  Cliurch,  for  ordinarily  one  of  the  side 
chapels  is  used,  and  the  High  Altar  stands  lonely  and 
deserted.  Even  Eustace,  though  a  priest  of  the 
Church,  inquires  why  "  the  Pontiff,  surrounded  by 
his  clergy,  does  not  himself  perform  every  Sunday  the 
solemn  duties  of  his  station,  presiding  in  person  over 
the  assembly,  instructing  his  flock,  like  the  Leos  and 
Gregorys  of  ancient  times,  with  his  own  voice,  and 
with  his  own  hands  administering  to  them  '  the  bread 
of  life,'  and  '  the  cup  of  salvation  ? '  "  Such  a  sight 
would  indeed  be  one  both  aifecting  and  sublime. 

There  is  much,  however,  to  detract  from  our  pleasure 
.n  the  survey  of  this  unrivaled  temple.  The  very  in- 
scription on  the  front,  instead  of  dedicating  it  to  Him 
who  alone  should  be  worshipped  here,  states  that  it  is 
consecrated  by  Paul  V.,  In  honorem  principis  apoS' 
TOLORUM.  We  pause  to  inspect  the  bas-reliefs  on  the 
magnificent  bronze  doors,  and  are  transported  back  to 
the  days  of  heathenism.  The  artist  drew  his  inspira- 
tion fi'om  no  source  more  hallowed  than  the  "  Metamor- 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.      81 

phoses  "  of  Ovid ;  and  Ganymede  and  the  Eagle,  with 
Leda  and  the  Swan  —  the  latter  group  more  spirited 
than  chaste  —  fiorure  on  the  doors  of  this  Christian 
temple.  Advance  to  the  High  Altar,  and  near  it,  on 
a  pedestal  about  four  feet  high,  stands  an  old  bronze 
statue,  which  the  skeptical  antiquary  will  tell  you  was 
once  a  Jupiter,  by  a  slight  change  transformed  into  an 
undoubted  St.  Peter.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  now 
a  mere  instrument  of  superstition,  and  through  the 
whole  day  crowds  may  be  seen  kneeling  before  it  in 
earnest  prayer.  Their  devotions  ended,  they  approach, 
kiss  the  extended  foot,  —  which  is  almost  worn  off  by 
this  constant  friction,  —  press  their  foreheads  to  it,  and 
the  process  is  ended.  Has  the  Romanist  any  reason  to 
laugh  at  the  poor  Mussulman,  who  performs  a  pilgrim- 
age to  Mecca,  to  kiss  the  black  stone  of  the  Caaba  ? 
On  St.  Peter's  day  this  image  is  clothed  in  magnificent 
robes  ;  the  gemmed  tiara  placed  upon  its  head ;  the 
jeweled  collar  around  its  neck  ;  soldiers  are  stationed 
by  its  side,  and  lighted  candles  burning  about  it.  A 
clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  who  was  present 
on  this  occasion  last  year,  told  me  that  the  effect  of 
the  black  image  thus  arrayed  was  perfectly  ludicrous ; 
and  with  the  people  all  kneeling  before  it,  had  he  not 
known  he  was  in  a  Christian  Church,  he  should  have 
supposed  himself  in  a  heathen  temple,  and  that,  the 
idol. 

In  the  massive  columns  which  support  the  dome,  are 
preserved  some  holy  relics,  which  are  only  shown  with 
much  ceremony  from  a  high  balcony,  during  Passion 
Week.  A  portion  of  the  true  Cross,  the  head  of  St. 
Andrew,  the  lance  of  St.  Longinus  (with  which  our 
Saviour  was  pierced),  and  the  Sudarium^  or  handker- 


32       THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

cliief,  containing  the  impression  of  our  Lord's  features, 
form  a  part  of  this  sacred  treasury.  Unfortunately, 
there  are  divers  other  lances  of  similar  pretensions,  — 
one  at  Nuremberg,  and  another  in  Armenia.  With  the 
Sudarium  it  is  still  worse,  there  being  six  rival  ones 
shown  in  different  places,  namely,  Turin,  Milan,  Cadoin 
in  Perigort,Besan9on,  Compidgne,  and  Aix-la-Chapelle  ; 
while  that  at  Cadoin  has  fourteen  bulls  to  declare  it 
genuine,  and  that  at  Turin  four.  The  learned,  how- 
ever, solve  the  difficulty  by  saying,  that  the  handker- 
chief applied  to  our  Lord's  face  consisted  of  several 
folds,  consequently  the  impression  of  the  countenance 
went  through  them  all,  and  they  are  all  genuine  !  ^ 

One  more  item,  and  I  have  done  with  this  disagi-ee- 
able  portion  of  the  subject.  Pass  the  High  Altar,  and 
at  the  farther  extremity  of  the  Church  is  a  magnificent 
throne  of  bronze  and  gilt,  surmounted  by  a  canopy,  and 
supported  by  four  colossal  gilt  figures  of  St.  Augustine, 
St.  Ambrose,  St.  Chrysostom,  and  St.  Athanasius. 
Within  is  a  chair,  which  tradition  tells  us  is  the 
identical  one  in  which  St.  Peter  sat  when  he  offici- 
ated as  Bishop  of  Rome.  Some  twenty  years  ago. 
Lady  Morgan  gave  to  the  world  another  story  of  this 
wonderful  relic.  She  states  that  when  the  French  held 
Rome,  their  sacrilegious  curiosity  induced  them  to 
break  through  the  splendid  casket  for  the  purpose  of 
seeing  the  sacred  chair.  Upon  its  mouldering  and 
dusty  surface  were  traced  carvings,  which  bore  the 
appearance  of  letters.  The  chair  was  quickly  brought 
into  a  better  light,  the  dust  and  cobwebs  removed,  and 
the  inscription  faithfully  copied.  The  writing  is  in 
Arabic  characters,  and  is  the  Avell  known  confession  of 

1  Burton's  Rome,  vol.  ii.  p.  156. 


THE    CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.      33 

Mahometan  faith,  —  '*  There  is  but  one  God,  and  Ma- 
homet is  his  prophet."  The  story,  she  adds,  has  since 
been  hushed  up,  the  chair  replaced,  and  none  but  tlie 
unhallowed  remember  the  fact,  and  none  but  the 
audacious  repeat  it.^  Dr.  Wiseman  takes  miladi  to 
task  with  great  severity,  and  asserts  that  it  is  an 
ancient  curule  chair,  evidently  of  Roman  workmanship, 
and  may  therefore  reasonably  be  supposed  to  have  been 
used  as  an  Episcopal  throne  when  St.  Peter  was  re- 
ceived into  the  house  of  the  Senator  Pudens  at  Rome. 
The  truth  probably  is,  that  it  was  brought  from  the 
East  among  the  spoils  of  the  Crusaders  ;  presented  to 
St.  Peter's  at  a  time  when  antiquarian  research  was 
not  much  in  fashion ;  and  now,  its  origin  has  been  for- 
gotten. 

But  to  continue  the  account  of  our  visit.  The  hours 
went  by,  and  we  could  not  leave  this  spot  which  had 
been  thought  and  dreamed  of  for  so  many  years.  We 
realized  the  feellncrs  of  the  imaginative  author  of 
Vathek,  when  he  wrote,  "  I  wish  his  Holiness  would 
allow  me  to  erect  a  little  tabernacle  within  this  glorious 
temple.  I  should  desire  no  other  prospect  during  the 
winter ;  no  other  sky  than  the  vast  arches  glowing 
with  golden  ornaments,  so  lofty  as  to  lose  all  glitter  or 
gaudiness.  We  would  take  our  evening  walks  on  the 
field  of  marble  ;  for  is  not  the  pavement  vast  enough 
for  the  extravagance  of  this  appellation  ?  Sometimes, 
instead  of  climbing  a  mountain,  we  should  ascend  the 
cupola,  and  look  down  on  our  little  encampment  below. 
At  night  I  should  wish  for  a  constellation  of  lamps  dis- 
persed about  in  clusters,  and  so  contrived  as  to  diffuse 
a  mild  and  equal  light.     Music  should  not  be  wanted  : 

1  Italy,  vol.  ii.  p.  227. 


34      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

at  one  time  to  breathe  in  the  subterranean  chapels,  at 
another  to  echo  through  the  dome." 

But  the  melody  wliich  Beckford  desired,  we  were 
soon  to  hear.  A  side  door  opened  ;  forth  came  a  pro- 
cession, —  a  Cardinal  and  long  array  of  priests,  —  and 
we  followed  them  to  see  what  service  was  at  hand. 
They  swept  across  the  Church,  paused  for  a  moment  in 
the  centre,  and  sunk  upon  their  knees,  with  their  faces 
turned  to  the  High  Altar,  and  then  entered  the  chapel 
called  the  Capella  del  Coro.  It  was  the  hour  for  Ves- 
pers, which  at  once  commenced.  There  were  perhaps 
twenty  in  the  choir,  by  whom  the  principal  part  of  the 
service  was  performed,  while  nearly  two  hundred  more 
—  prebendaries,  canons,  clerks,  and  choristers  —  were 
seated  in  the  chapel,  and  joined  in  the  responsive  parts. 
It  was  the  first  time  we  had  heard  the  Pope's  choir,  so 
celebrated  throughout  the  world,  and  yet  our  expecta- 
tions were  more  than  realized.  They  still  use  those 
old  austere  chants  of  surpassing  beauty,  which  have 
been  handed  down  to  them  through  centuries,  —  the 
Lydian  and  Phrygian  tunes,  first  introduced  into  the 
Western  churches  by  St.  Ambrose.  St.  Augustine 
listened  to  them  in  the  Church  of  Milan,  when  he  re- 
presents himself  as  being  melted  to  tears,  and  even 
expressed  the  fear  lest  such  harmonious  airs  might  be 
too  tender  for  the  manly  spirit  of  Christian  devotion.^ 

1  "  Sometimes,  from  over  jealousy,  I  would  entirely  put  from  me  and  from 
the  Church  the  melodies  of  the  sweet  chants  which  we  use  in  the  Psalter, 
lest  our  ears  seduce  us;  and  (he  way  of  Athanasius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria, 
geems  the  safer;  Avho,  as  I  have  often  heard,  made  the  reader  chant  with  so 
slight  a  change  of  note,  that  it  was  more  like  speaking  than  singing.  And 
yet,  when  I  call  to  mind  the  tears  I  shed  when  I  heard  the  chants  of  Thy 
Church  in  the  infanc}^  of  my  recovered  faith,  and  reflect  that  at  this  time  I 
am  affected,  not  by  the  mere  music,  but  by  the  subject,  brought  out,  as  it  is, 
by  clear  voices  and  appropriate  tune;  then,  in  turn,  I  confess  how  useful  is 
the  practice." —  Confessions,  x.  50. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     35 

Minorled  with  these  were  the  richer  Roman  chants 
wliich  were  collected  by  Gregory  the  Great,  and  bear 
his  name.  They  sang  the  Psalms  for  the  evening,  and 
I  rejoiced  that  I  knew  they  were  uttering  inspired 
words ;  for  the  music,  as  it  swept  by  us  in  a  perfect 
flood  of  harmony,  seemed  too  sweet  and  heavenly  to  be 
addressed  to  any  but  God  alone.  The  organ  mingled 
its  rich,  mellow  tones  with  the  voices  which  were  thus 
pouring  out  their  melody ;  sweet  incense  filled  the 
chapel  as  they  flung  high  their  golden  censers;  and 
we  remained  listening  to  the  delicious  sounds,  until  the 
whole  was  over,  and  the  procession  once  more  took  its 
way  through  the  Church. 

As  we  followed  them  out,  we  found  the  sun  was  set- 
ting, and  we  stayed  to  watch  the  effect  of  the  gathering 
darkness.  The  Church  was  untenanted,  save  by  some 
solitary  worshipper  kneeling  apart,  an^  no  sound  was 
heard  except  now  and  then  the  light  tread  of  a  sacris- 
tan as  he  crossed  the  marble  pavement.  Gradually  the 
shadows  deepened  ;  the  building  appeared  more  vast 
and  solemn  ;  the  hundred  lights  which  are  ever  burn- 
ing around  the  tomb  of  St.  Peter  seemed  like  distant, 
twinkling  stars  ;  the  statues  on  the  monuments  grew 
more  wan  and  phantom-like  ;  and  we  departed,  repeat- 
ing to  ourselves  those  striking  lines  of  the  pilgrim 
poet : — 

"  But  thou,  of  temples  old,  or  altars  new, 
Standest  alone  —  with  nothing  like  to  thee  — 
Worthiest  of  God,  the  ho!}'  and  the  true; 
Since  Zion's  desolation,  when  that  He 
Forsook  His  former  city,  what  could  be, 
Of  earthly  structures,  in  His  honor  piled, 
Of  a  sublimer  aspect?  Majesty, 
Power,  glory,  strength,  and  beauty  —  all  are  aisled 
In  this  eternal  ark  of  worship  undefiled." 


36      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

Yesterday  it  rained,  and  the  sun  this  morning  rose 
with  that  cloudless  beauty  which  is  so  often  seen  when 
the  atmosphere  has  just  been  cleared  by  a  storm.  The 
air  was  perfectly  still  and  clear,  and  we  determined  to 
avail  ourselves  of  the  opportunity  to  ascend  the  dome 
of  the  Church.  Having  procured  the  necessary  permit 
from  the  Cardinal  Secretary  of  State,  we  were  admitted, 
and  commenced  the  ascent  by  a  broad  stone  staircase, 
so  slightly  inclined  that  mules  walk  up  it  with  their 
loads.  After  a  time  it  narrows,  and  winds  around  be- 
tween the  inner  and  outer  domes,  until  passing  through 
a  door,  we  find  ourselves  on  a  light  gallery  in  the  in- 
terior, more  than  three  hundred  feet  above  the  pave- 
ment. The  brain  becomes  dizzy  as  we  look  down,  and 
see  men  appearing  like  insects  crawling  far  below. 
The  mosaic  pictures  which  line  the  dome,  and  from 
the  pavement  looked  so  fair  and  beautifully  shaded, 
here  seem  coarse,  and  the  figures  are  gigantic.  No- 
where else  can  we  realize  the  unparalleled  vastness  of 
this  edifice,  and  for  a  time  we  stood  and  looked  down 
in  silence,  while  from  one  of  the  side  chapels  there 
came  faintly  and  fitfully  the  swell  of  voices  and  the 
music  of  the  organ,  as  some  priests  were  performing 
there  the  morning  service. 

From  thence  we  ascended  to  the  exterior  gallery  on 
the  top  of  the  dome.  Here  was  spread  out  before  us 
the  same  glorious  prospect  which  we  had  already  seen 
from  the  Senator's  Tower  on  the  Capitoline  Hill.  The 
morning  sun  was  pouring  down  its  beams,  flooding  the 
whole  landscape  with  brightness.  White,  fleecy  clouds 
still  lingered  about  the  distant  Apennines,  while  a  line 
of  mist  stretching  far  over  the  Campagna,  showed  the 
course  of  the  Tiber.     There,  everything  spoke  of  re- 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     37 

pose  and  desolation,  and  the  country  spread  out  like  a 
prairie  with  none  to  occupy  it.  We  felt,  as  did  Rogers, 
when  he  asked,  — 

"  Have  none  appeared  as  tillers  of  the  ground, 
None  since  they  went  —  as  tho'  it  still  were  theirs, 
And  they  might  come  and  claim  their  own  again  ? 
"Was  the  last  plough  a  Roman's?  " 

Below  us  were  the  formal  gardens  of  the  Pope,  with 
their  sparkling  fountains,  and  orange  groves  loaded 
with  fruit;  wliile  a  palm-tree  growing  near,  and  the 
stony  pines,  with  their  flat,  dark  tops  dispersed  about, 
seemed  to  increase  the  oriental  illusion  of  the  scene. 
We  walked  over  the  stone  roof  of  this  mighty  building, 
which  covers  an  extent  of  several  acres.  How  strange 
it  seems  to  find  at  tliis  dizzy  height  the  habitations  of 
human  beino-s  !  Yet  here  are  the  houses  of  the  work- 
men  who  are  always  employed  in  the  repairs  of  the 
edifice,  so  that  \\q  seem  to  be  in  the  midst  of  a  little 
village.  A  fountain,  too,  is  playing  by  our  side,  throw- 
ing its  water  into  a  marble  basin  ;  and  while  the  lofty 
parapet  cuts  off  all  view  beyond,  we  can  scarcely  realize 
that  we  are  not  treading  on  the  ground.  About  us 
were  traces  of  countless  j)ilgrims,  who  during  the  last 
two  centuries  had  climbed  to  the  same  lofty  elevation, 
and  left  there  their  names  and  the  dates  of  their  visits. 
Among  them  was  an  Italian  name  carved  deeply  into 
one  of  the  bronze  balls  of  the  railing  around  the  gal- 
lery, with  the  date  1627.  Perhaps  this  is  the  only 
trace  the  individual  has  left  of  his  existence  on  the 
earth. 

From  this  highest  gallery  at  the  foot  of  the  stem 
which  supports  the  ball  and  cross,  a  small  iron  ladder 
enables  visitors  to  ascend  into  the  ball  itself.     It  is  of 


38      THE   CHRISTMAS   HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

bronze  gilt,  seven  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter,  and  will 
accommodate  a  small  party.  There  is  something,  how- 
ever, in  the  idea  of  being  inclosed  in  a  ball  four  hun- 
dred and  thirty  feet  from  the  ground,  which  gives  the 
visitor  an  uneasy  feeling.  It  seems  to  vibrate  and 
tremble  ;  he  remembers  how  small  is  the  metal  stem 
which  sustains  it ;  and  being,  in  addition,  almost  roasted 
by  the  rays  of  the  sun  on  the  thin  copper,  he  is  gener- 
ally contented  with  a  very  short  sojourn  at  this  aerial 
height.  Instead  of  a  cross,  the  ball  was  once  sur- 
mounted by  a  large  pine  of  bronze,  which  had  before 
ornamented  the  top  of  the  tomb  of  Hadrian.  Being 
, thrown  from  St.  Peter's  by  lightning,  it  was  transferred 
to  the  gardens  of  the  Vatican,  where  it  now  stands  by 
the  side  of  the  great  Corridor  of  Belvidere.  It  was 
here  in  the  days  of  Dante,  for  when  describing  one  of 
the  monsters  in  the  Inferno,  he  says,  — 

"  His  visage  seem'd 
In  length  and  bulk,  as  doth  the  pine  that  tops 
St.  Peter's  Koman  fane." 

We  descended  again  to  the  church,  and  finding  one 
of  the  sacristans,  proceeded  to  visit  the  crypts  beneath 
it.  He  conducted  us  down  a  stairs  under  one  of  the 
side  altars,  and  at  its  foot,  fixed  in  the  wall,  is  a  marble 
slab,  the  inscription  on  which  states  that  females  are  not 
permitted  to  descend  into  these  vaults  except  on  Whit- 
sunday, —  on  which  day  men  are  excluded,  —  and  if 
any  infringe  this  regulation,  they  are  anathematized. 
The  reason  of  this  absurd  rule  we  could  not  discover. 
We  have  here  below  us,  probably,  the  most  ancient 
church  pavement  in  existence  ;  for  when  the  present 
sumptuous  temple  was  erected  over  the  first  church,  the 
pavement  was  left  untouched.     This  spot,  indeed,  was 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.       39 

chosen  by  Constantine  for  the  first  religious  edifice  he 
erected,  because  it  was  a  part  of  the»Circus  of  Nero, 
and  consecrated  by  the  blood  of  numberless  martyrs 
who  were  slaughtered  in  the  arena. 

Immediately  below  the  High  Altar  is  what  is  called 
the  tomb  of  St.  Peter.  As  we  stood  beside  it,  we 
thought  what  would  be  the  feelings  of  the  humble 
fisherman  of  Galilee,  could  he  rise  from  his  martyr- 
grave,  wherever  it  may  be,  and  behold  the  gorgeous 
ceremonies  of  the  temple  which  is  called  by  his  name. 
The  purity  of  the  faith  for  which  he  died,  perverted  , 
the  simplicity  of  ancient  worship  deformed  by  countless 
rites,  partaking  of  the  "  pride  and  pomp  and  circum- 
stance "  of  Pagan  rituals ;  the  gospel  mingled  up 
with  strange  legends  from  the  old  mythology ;  his 
own  name,  which  he  only  wished  to  be  "  written  in 
heaven,"  now  exalted  above  all  human  fame,  and  made 
an  argument  for  blinding  superstition,  —  how  would  his 
lofty  rebuke  startle  the  thousands  kneeling  here,  and 
echo  even  through  the  halls  of  the  Vatican,  as  he  sum- 
moned all  away  from  the  "  cunningly-devised  fables  " 
which  are  taught  in  this  glorious  shrine,  to  those 
changeless  and  immutable  truths  which  are  to  last 
while  "  eternity  grows  gray  !  " 

As  we  passed  around,  we  beheld  on  all  sides  small 
chapels  where  lights  are  kept  ever  burning,  and  which 
are  regarded  as  places  of  peculiar  sanctity.  Wherever 
we  turned,  we  saw  the  tombs  of  those  who  for  their  ser- 
vices in  the  cause  of  the  Church,  or  their  extraordinary 
holiness,  had  been  thought  worthy  of  a  resting-place  in 
this  unequaled  temple.  Here,  covered  with  bass-reliefs, 
to  illustrate  Scripture  history,  is  the  rich  sarcophagus 
of  Junius  Bassus,  Prefect  of  Rome,  who  died  a.  d.  359. 


40      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

Here  lie  buried,  Otho  II.  of  Germany ;  Charlotte, 
Queen  of  Jerusulem  and  Cyprus  ;  the  last  members 
of  the  royal  family  of  Stuart,  and  many  of  the  Popes. 
Unlike  most  vaults  of  the  kind,  there  is  no  dampness  in 
the  atmosphere,  nor  that  chilliness  which  speaks  so 
plainly  of  the  grave;  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  very 
balminess  of  the  air  took  from  us  all  thoughts  of  the 
tomb.  When  we  again  ascended,  and  dropped  the  fee 
into  the  hand  of  the  smiling  young  priest,  we  found  it 
difficult  to  realize  that  we  had  been  treading  on  a  spot 
where,  for  fifteen  centuries,  the  great  and  noble  had 
found  their  burial-place. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CHRISTMAS   EVE  AT    THE    SISTINE    CHAPEL. THE   SER- 
VICES  IN   ST.  Peter's   on    christmas   day.  —  the 

BRITISH    CHAPEL. 

HE  Christmas  Holydays  are  at  hand,  arid  on 
every  side  we  hear  the  note  of  preparation. 
The  shops  are  decorated  with  flowers,  while 
the  altars  of  the  churches  are  arrayed  in  their 
most  splendid  ornaments.  The  images  of  the  Virgin  in 
particular  are  seen  in  their  gayest  dress,  and  all  the 
jewelry  which  the  treasury  can  furnish  is  brought  out 
to  give  them  an  elegant  and  fashionable  appearance. 

At  this  time,  too,  in  addition  to  the  varied  population 
of  the  city,  —  its  priests,  soldiers,  and  beggars,  who  to- 
gether form  the  great  proportion,  —  a  new  accession  is 
pouring  in  from  the  surrounding  country.  The  peas- 
ants who  live  in  the  deserted  tombs  on  the  Campagna ; 
the  natives  of  the  Alban  mountains,  fierce,  banditti- 
looking  fellows,  who  gather  their  cloaks  about  them 
with  a  scowling  air  which  would  not  be  at  all  pleasant 
to  encounter  among  their  own  hills  ;  and  the  Trastev- 
erini,  in  their  picturesque  costumes,  boasting  themselves 
to  be  the  only  true  descendants  of  the  ancient  Romans, 
and  as  proud  and  haughty  in  their  bearing  as  if  they 
had  also  inherited  the  heroic  virtues  of  their  ancestors, 
■ —  these  are  to  be  met  roaming  about  every  street,  and 
in  the  churches,  gazing  in  wonder  at  their  magnificence. 


42      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

The  most  singular,  however,  are  the  Calabrian  mhi- 
strels,  the  pifferari.  Their  dress  is  wild  and  striking, 
consisting  of  a  loose  sheep- skin  coat,  with  the  w^ool  left 
on  it,  and  a  high  peaked  cap,  decked  with  gay  ribbons 
and  sprigs  of  heather,  while  the  huge  zampogne  of  goat- 
skin is  formed  like  the  bagpipes  of  Scotland,  and  resem- 
bles them  too  in  its  shrill  music.  These  interesting 
characters  arrive  during  the  last  days  of  Advent,  and 
consider  themselves  the  representatives  of  the  shep- 
herds of  Judea,  who  were  the  first  to  announce  the 
news,  of  the  Nativity.  Their  usual  gathering-place  is 
on  the  steps  of  the  Piazza  di  Spagna^  where  they 
lounge  and  sleep  in  the  warm  sun.  Every  little  while 
a  party  sets  out  on  a  tour  through  the  city,  blowing 
away  with  the  most  desperate  energy.  At  the  next 
corner  is  one  of  the  shrines  of  the  Madonna,  and  this  is 
their  first  stopping-place,  to  salute  the  Mother  and 
Child.  Lady  Morgan  says,  it  is  done  "  under  the 
traditional  notion  of  charming  her  labor-pains  on  the 
approaching  Christmas."  They  turn  down  the  Via 
Frattina.,  and  a  short  distance  further  come  to  a  car- 
penter's shop,  which  must  also  be  favored  with  a  tune, 
—  "  per  politezza  al  messer  San  Giuseppe,"  —  "  out  of 
compliment  to  St.  Joseph."  The  owner  hands  them 
out  a  hajocclio^  and  they  continue  their  march  until  the 
circuit  is  completed. 

At  sundown,  on  Christmas  Eve,  the  cannon  sounded 
from  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo,  to  give  notice  that  the 
Holy  Season  had  begun.  We  were  advised  to  attend 
service  in  the  Sistine  Chapel,  and  accordingly  at  an 
early  hour  repaired  to  the  Vatican,  in  which  it  is  situ- 
ated. Gentlemen  are  only  admitted  in  full  dress,  and 
ladies  are  also  compelled  to  appear  in  black,  their  heads 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     43 

covered  only  with  a  veil.  The  entrance  was  guarded 
by  the  Pope's  harlequin-looking  guards,  in  the  ridiculous 
uniform  said  to  have  been  designed  by  Michael  Angelo  ; 
and  the  company  all  gathered  round  them  until  the 
doors  were  opened,  when  they  pushed  in  as  best  they 
could,  jostling  and  being  jostled.  Half  way  up  the 
chapel  there  is  a  grating,  beyond  which  the  ladies  are 
not  permitted  to  go,  so  that  for  once  the  gentlemen 
were  best  accommodated.  At  the  upper  end  of  the 
large  area  above  is  the  altar,  while  on  the  sides  are 
raised  seats  for  the  Cardinals,  and  to  these  w^e  strug- 
gled up,  until  all  further  advance  was  cut  off  by  the 
halberds  of  the  guards.  Here  we  took  our  stand,  and 
waited  with  the  most  exemplary  patience  for  the  sendee 
to  begin. 

Nearly  an  hour  passed  while  the  Cardinals  were  col- 
lecting. One  by  one  they  came  into  the  area,  their 
long,  red  trains  supported  by  two  priests  in  purple 
dresses,  and  after  kneeling  for  a  moment  on  the  floor, 
facing  the  altar,  ascended  to  their  seats.  Their  breth- 
ren, already  there,  rose  and  greeted  them  with  a  stately 
bow,  and  the  attendants  placed  themselves  humbly  at 
their  feet.  At  length  the  music  began,  but  I  confess  I 
was  disappointed.  It  was  too  loud  for  the  size  of  the 
chapel,  and  yvQ  missed  the  sweet  sounds  of  the  organ, 
which  formed  so  noble  an  accompaniment  at  Vespers  in 
St.  Peter's.  In  the  middle  of  the  chapel  stood  a  lec- 
tern, and  to  this  at  different  parts  of  the  service,  a  priest 
would  be  escorted,  who,  after  going  through  his  portion 
in  a  kind  of  recitative  manner,  was  again  in  form  es- 
corted back  to  the  door.  These  modulations,  we  are 
told  by  Roman  Catholic  writers,  were  first  introdiiced 
to  raise  and  support  the  voice,  to  extend  its  reach  and 


44       THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

soften  its  cadences,  because  its  common  tones  cannot 
adequately  be  heard  when  the  service  is  performed  in  a 
large  church.  They  vary,  however,  in  number  and 
solemnity  in  the  different  parts  of  the  service.  "  In  the 
lessons  and  epistles,  the  interrogations,  exclamations, 
and  periods  only  are  marked  by  a  corresponding  rise  or 
fall :  the  Gospel  had  its  variations  more  numerous  and 
more  dignified :  the  Preface  is  rich  in  full  melodies  and 
solemn  swells,  borrowed,  as  it  is  supposed,  from  the 
stately  accents  of  Roman  tragedy.  The  Psalms,  or  to 
use  an  expression  more  appropriate,  the  anthems  that 
commence  the  service,  precede  the  Gospel,  usher  in  the 
Offertory,  and  follow  the  Communion,  together  with  the 
Gloria  in  excelsis  and  Creed,  were  set  to  more  compli- 
cated and  more  labored  notes."  ^  The  priests  who 
officiated  this  evening  seemed  to  have  been  selected 
for  their  voices,  and  we  certainly  never  heard  anything 
superior  to  them  in  compass  and  richness  of  tone.  As 
with  their  faces  turned  to  heaven,  they  sang  from  the 
large,  golden-clasped  volumes,  it  seemed  to  be  the  very 
perfection  of  the  human  voice.  There  could,  however, 
be  no  devotion  except  for  those  well  acquainted  with 
the  service,  and  as  there  was  great  sameness  in  the 
singing,  the  audience  evidently  soon  began  to  grow 
weary.  For  a  time,  therefore,  I  scrutinized  the  Car- 
dinals, some  of  whom  have  magnificent  heads — keen, 
intellectual  looking  men,  well  worthy  to  be  pillars  of 
the  Vatican.  Then  I  tried  to  make  out  the  frescos  on 
the  ceiling,  and  the  great  painting  of  the  "  Last  Judg- 
ment "  by  Michael  Angelo,  which  occupies  the  end  ot 
the  chapel,  and  is  more  than  sixty  feet  high.  But  the 
paintings  were  loo  far  off  to  be  seen  even  by  the  bril- 

1  Eustace,  vol.  ii.  p.  81. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     45 

liant  lights  around  us,  and  the  brightness  of  their  colors 
has  been  sadly  dimmed  by  the  smoke  of  the  candles  and 
incense  during  the  last  two  centuries. 

The  audience  seemed  to  be  almost  entirely  English, 
and  I  suppose  were  Protestants.  Such  at  least  is  the 
complaint  of  the  Italians,  that  they  can  never  gain  ad- 
mittance to  the  services  of  their  own  Church,  but  every 
place  is  occupied  by  foreigners.  This  formed  the  sub- 
ject of  one  of  the  satirical  witticisms  of  Pasquin.  One 
night  the  question  was  affixed  to  his  statue,  "  How 
shall  I,  being  a  true  son  of  the  Holy  Church,  obtain 
admittance  to  her  services  ? "  The  next  night  the 
answer  which  appeared  was,  "  Declare  that  you  are 
an  Englishman,  and  swear  that  you  are  a  heretic." 
After  a  while,  the  rumor  began  to  spread  round  among 
the  spectators,  that  the  Pope  was  not  to  be  present  this 
evening,  and  therefore  there  would  be  no  High  Mass 
after  Vespers.  The  news  apparently  made  them  more 
restless,  and  they  began  to  thin  out.  One  party  after 
another  passed  down  the  line  of  guards,  as  they  stood 
like  statues,  and  departed.  Many  went  to  the  Church 
of  St.  Maria  Mago-iore,  to  see  at  midniMit  the  true  era- 
die  in  which  our  Lord  was  rocked  carried  in  procession. 
Having,  however,  little  taste  for  such  exhibitions,  we  did 
not  join  them.  I  found  indeed,  from  the  account  of 
a  friend  who  witnessed  it,  that  we  did  not  lose  much. 
After  standing  for  some  hours  in  a  dense  crowd,  listen- 
ing to  the  singing  of  the  choir,  a  procession  of  priests 
carried  the  Holy  Relic  across  the  Church  from  the  sac- 
'isty  to  the  altar.  It  was  inclosed  in  a  splendid  coffer 
of  silver,  with  a  canopy  of  gold  cloth  elevated  over  it. 
Banners  waved ;  the  lighted  tapers  were  held  up  ;  in- 
cense rose  in  clouds  about  it ;  the  guard  of  soldiers,  and 


46      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

the  crowd  Avhich  filled  the  Church,  dropped  on  their 
knees  ;  it  passed,  and  the  whole  show  was  oyer. 

Near  midnight  we  took  our  course  homeward,  be- 
neath as  splendid  a  moon  as  ever  shone,  even  through 
the  transparency  of  an  Italian  sky.  In  the  square  be- 
fore St.  Peter's,  the  obelisk  raised  its  tapering  point  up 
to  heaven,  and  the  fountain  on  each  side  fluno;  high  its 
waters,  wdiich  fell  in  silver  spray  as  they  reflected  back 
the  clear  light  of  the  moon.  We  stood  for  a  while  on 
the  bridge  of  St.  Angelo,  looking  at  its  beams  play  upon 
the  Tiber.  That  mighty  fortress  —  Hadrian's  massive 
tomb  —  was  frowning  darkly  above  us,  and  the  statues 
which  lined  the  bridge  looked  pale  and  wan  in  the  clear 
night,  till  they  appeared  like  pallid  phantoms,  stead- 
fastly watching  the  current  of  time,  by  which  they 
could  be  influenced  no  more.  ^ 


Christmas  morning  fulfilled  in  its  beauty  the  promise 
of  the  night  before.  It  is  the  great  festival  of  the  win- 
ter. The  Papal  baimers  are  displayed  from  the  Castle, 
and  the  streets  are  filled  with  crowds  thronging  up  to 
St.  Peter's.  The  guards,  in  their  strange  white  and 
red  costumes,  were  stationed  around  the  body  of  the 
Church,  while  at  the  lower  end  a  body  of  troops  were 
drawn  up,  who  remained  there  on  duty  during  the 
whole  service.  With  the  audience  the  same  formality 
of  dress  was  required  as  the  evening  before.  At  the 
upper  end  of  the  Church  was  the  magnificent  throne  of 
the  Pope,  raised  quite  as  high  as  the  altar  which  it 

1  "  Les  rayons  de  la  lune  faisoient  des  statues  comme  des  ombres  blanches 
regardant  fixdment  couler  les  flots  et  le  temps  qui  ne  les  concernent  plus." 
—  Coj'inne. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.       47 

fronted,  and  decked  out  most  splendidly  with  its  cloth 
of  crimson  and  gold,  and  the  gilded  mitre  suspended 
above.  Next  to  it  on  the  sides  were  the  seats  for  the 
Cardinals  ;  then  the  boxes  for  ambassadors  and  their 
suites  ;  and  then  high  platforms  covered  with  crimson 
cloth,  to  afford  seats  for  the  ladies.  The  altar  has  no 
cliancel  around  it,  and  the  great  area  between  its  steps 
and  the  Papal  throne  was  left  vacant  for  the  perform- 
ance of  the  services.  As  my  stand  happened  to  be 
close  to  the  ambassadors'  boxes,  I  had  an  excellent 
view  of  everything  which  took  place. 

After  waiting  for  af  least  an  hour,  suddenly  there 
came  a  burst  of  music  from  the  lower  end  of  tlie 
Church.  It  was  a  loud  chant,  which,  softened  by  the 
distance,  floated  sweetly  through  the  buikling.  Every 
eye  was  strained  towards  the  spot  from  which  it  pro- 
ceeded, and  there,  raised  high  on  the  shoulders  of  men 
clothed  in  violet-colored  robes,  we  beheld  the  Pope 
borne  above  the  heads  of  the  kneeling  multitude  in  his 
crimson  chair,  the  falling  drapery  from  which  half  con- 
cealed those  who  carried  him.  The  gemmed  tiara  was 
on  his  head,  and  his  robes  sparkled  with  jewels.  On 
each  side  of  him  were  carried  high,  fan-like  banners  of 
ostricli  feathers,  such  as  we  see  in  pictures  of  the  pro- 
cessions of  an  eastern  rajah.  Before  him  marched  a 
guard  of  honor,  consisting  of  some  sixty  Roman  noble- 
men, who  always  form  his  escort  on  great  festivals. 
Around  him  was  his  brilliant  court :  the  Cardinals  ;  the 
Bishops  of  the  Greek,  Armenian,  and  other  eastern 
churches,  in  their  most  gorgeous  array ;  the  heads  of 
different  religious  brotherhoods,  in  ash-colored  gar- 
ments ;  priests  in  purple  and  white,  some  bearing  the 
Great  Cross  and  lighted  tapers,  and  some  flinging  in  the 


48       THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

air  their  golden  censers,  —  thus  the  procession  came 
slowly  on  to  the  sound  of  anthems, —  the  most  gor- 
geous show  which  probably  ever  entered  a  Christian 
church.  The  Pope  passed  within  six  feet  of  where  I 
stood.  His  eyes  were  closed ;  his  whole  countenance 
seemed  dull  and  lifeless  ;  and  the  constant  nodding  of 
his  head,  as  the  bearers  walked  with  unsteady  step,  gave 
him  the  appearance  of  a  mere  image,  splendidly  decked 
out  to  form  part  of  a  pageant. 

At  length,  amid  his  kneeling  train  he  was  deposited 
on  the  pavement  in  front  of  the  altar,  and  the  guard  of 
nobles  ranged  themselves  on  each  side  of  the  area  up  to 
the  throne.  He  knelt  for  a  few  moments  ;  parts  of  his 
dress  were  changed,  the  tiara  being  put  upon  the  altar 
and  a  mitre  substituted  in  its  place  ;  he  joined  in  the 
psalms  and  prayers  which  precede  the  solemn  service, 
and  was  escorted  in  state  to  his  lofty  seat,  while  the 
choir  sang  the  Introitus,  or  Psalm  of  Entrance.  Then 
one  by  one  the  Cardinals  swept  across  the  Church, 
their  long,  scarlet  trains  borne  up  behind  them  as  they 
walked,  and  spread  out  so  as  to  cover  a  surface  of  yards 
in  extent  when  they  stopped,  and  ascending  the  steps 
they  kissed  the  Pontiffs  hand  and  the  hem  of  his  gar- 
ment. 

The  service  of  High  Mass  now  began,  in  which  he  at 
times  took  part.  He  read  the  Collect ;  gave  his  bene- 
diction to  the  two  deacons  kneeling  at  his  feet  with  the 
Book  of  the  Gospels  ;  commenced  the  Nicene  Creed, 
which  the  choir  continued  in  music ;  and  returning  to 
the  altar,  fumed  it  with  incense  from  a  golden  censer, 
offered  the  usual  oblations,  and  washed  his  hands,  in 
token  of  purity  of  mind.  When  the  elements  were  con- 
secrated,  two  deacons  brought  the  Sacrament  to  the 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     49 

Pope,  who  is  seated.  He  first  revered  it  on  his  knees, 
and  then  received  it  sitting. 

But  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  describe  the 
long  and  complicated  service.  A  Cardinal  officiated  at 
the  altar  ;  rich  and  solemn  music  swelled  out  from  the 
choir,  and  filled  the  mighty  building  in  which  we  were  ; 
sweet  incense  floated  through  the  air ;  thousands  and 
thousands  were  gathered  under  that  golden  dome  ;  and 
no  single  thing  was  omitted  which  could  add  to  the 
magnificence  of  the  pageant.  In  this  respect  it  is  prob- 
ably unequaled  in  the  world.  Yet  to  most  who  were 
present  it  could  have  been  nothing  but  an  empty  show. 
The  priests  crossed  and  recrossed ;  censers  waved ; 
candles  were  lighted  and  put  out ;  dresses  were  changed 
and  rechanged ;  the  Cardinals  walked  back  and  forth, 
until  the  mind  became  utterly  bewildered.  All  things 
about  us  indeed  —  the  vastness  of  the  edifice,  the  works 
of  art,  the  rich  dresses,  the  splendid  music  —  contrib- 
uted to  heighten  the  effect ;  yet,  with  all  this,  the  seri- 
ousness of  devotion  seemed  to  be  wanting. 

Had  I  known  nothing  of  Christianity,  I  should  have 
supposed  the  Pope  to  be  the  object  of  their  worship. 
His  throne  was  far  more  gorgeous  than  the  altar ; 
where  they  kneeled  before  the  latter  once,  they  kneeled 
before  the  former  five  times ;  ^  and  the  amount  of  in- 
cense offered  before  each  was  about  in  the  same  pro- 
portion. He  was  evidently  the  central  point  of  attrac- 
tion. The  entrance  of  the  old  man,  so  gorgeously  at- 
tired, among  kneehng  thousands,  and  the  splendor  of 


1  "  Never,  I  ween, 

In  anybody's  recollection, 
Was  such  a  party  seen 

For  genuflection." 
4 


60     THE  CHRIST Af AS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

the  whole  service,  showed  more  fully  than  ever  before 
how  far  the  Church  of  Rome  had  wandered  from  the 
simplicity  of  the  faith,  and  how  much  of  ceremony  it 
had  substituted  for  the  pure  worship  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians. The  day  before  I  had  gone  over  the  service  for 
Christmas  with  an  ecclesiastic  of  the  Romish  Church, 
received  from  him  every  explanation,  and  I  now  fol- 
lowed it  through  with  the  Missal  in  my  hand.  I  wished 
to  form  an  opinion  for  myself,  and  after  investigating 
as  far  as  possible  the  meaning  of  the  many  ceremonies 
we  have  witnessed,  I  could  not  but  feel  the  truth  of  the 
remark  I  liave  somewhere  seen,  that  "  the  Romanist  has 
been  the  Pagan's  heir."  The  most  interesting  part  to 
me  was,  to  hear  the  Nicene  (or  rather,  Constantinopoli- 
tan)  Creed  chanted  in  Greek  immediately  after  it  had 
been  chanted  in  Latin.  "  It  is  to  show  the  union  of  the 
two  Churches,"  a  priest  most  gravely  told  me.  I 
thought  that  whereas  the  Latin  Church  has  for  cen- 
turies anathematized  the  Greek,  and  the  Greek  in  turn 
repudiated  the  Latin,  this  service  had  about  as  much 
meaning  as  the  title  "  King  of  Jerusalem,"  which  the 
King  of  Naples  still  uses. 

At  length  the  service  ended.  The  Pope  was  once 
more  raised  on  his  lofty  seat  and  carried  down  the 
Church  ;  the  Roman  nobles  formed  around  him ;  his 
body-guards  shouldered  their  halberds  ;  the  Cardinals, 
with  their  train-bearers,  fell  into  their  places,  and  the 
gay  procession  went  as  it  came.  While  it  passed  down, 
the  Pope  gently  waved  his  hand  from  side  to  side  to 
dispense  his  blessing ;  the  immense  multitude  sunk 
upon  their  knees  as  he  went  by,  until  the  train  disap- 
peared through  the  door,  and  the  successor  of  St.  Peter 
departed  to  his  dwelling  in  the  Vatican.     The  released 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.        51 

ecclesiastics  proceeded  to  pay  their  respects  to  tlie 
ladies;  violet  and  scarlet  stockings  appeared  in  the 
crowd  among  the  brilliant  uniforms  ;  "  nods,  and  becks, 
and  wreathed  smiles  "  were  visible  on  all  sides ;  com- 
pliments in  French  and  Italian  mingled  into  one  chaos 
of  sound, ' —  and  the  whole  broke  up  like  a  gay  pleasure 
party. 

For  some  time  I  lingered  under  the  colonnades  to 
see  the  immense  multitude  pour  out  and  disperse.  As 
they  passed  down  the  steps  and  by  the  massive  pillars, 
they  seemed  pigmies  in  size.  Before  the  Church,  the 
whole  square  was  alive.  The  crimson  and  gold  car- 
riages of  the  Cardinals,  with  their  three  liveried  foot- 
men hanging  on  behind,  were  dashing  away;  the 
troops  were  pouring  out ;  military  music  was  sounding, 
—  and  I  went  home  with  scarcely  a  feeling  to  remind 
me  that  I  had  been  at  church. 


From  this  gorgeous  and  unsatisfactory  show  I  was 
glad,  at  a  later  hour  of  the  day,  to  repair  to  the  pure 
worship  of  our  own  Church,  for  I  felt  that  thus  far  I 
had  been  doing  nothing  to  keep  the  solemn  festival  of 
the  Nativity.  The  Papal  power,  which  in  our  own 
land  talks  so  loudly  of  toleration,  here  will  not  allow 
the  worship  of  a  Protestant  within  the  bounds  of  "  the 
Eternal  City,"  and  almost  supported  as  its  people  are 
by  the  money  which  the  thousands  of  English  scatter 
among  them,  it  does  not  permit  them  even  to  erect  a 
church  in  which  to  meet.  Without  the  walls  of  the 
city,  just  beyond  the  Porta  Del  Popolo^  a  large  "  upper 
room  "  has  been  fitted  up  for  the  British  Chapel,  and 
there  on  sufferance  they  gather  each  week.     There  is 


52      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

no  organ,  no  singing  ;  everything  is  as  plain  and  simple 
as  possible.  Yet  never  did  I  so  much  enjoy  the  ser- 
vices of  the  Church  as  on  tliis  occasion.  Never  did  I 
feel  so  grateful  to  the  Reformers  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, that  at  the  cost  of  their  own  lives  they  had  be- 
queathed to  us  primitive  purity.  I  thought  of  the  time 
when,  eighteen  centuries  ago,  while  the  magnificence 
of  a  Heathen  Ritual  was  going  on  in  old  Rome,  perhaps 
some  little  band  of  Christians  had  met  beyond  its  walls, 
in  seclusion  to  offer  up  their  simple  worship.  How 
great  must  have  been  the  contrast  between  the  two 
scenes  —  the  splendor  of  those  forms  and  ceremonies 
with  which  thousands  bowed  around  the  altars  of  the 
Capitoline  Jupiter,  and  the  simplicity  and  purity  with 
which  a  few  disciples  of  Christ  prayed  to  their  crucified 
Master ! 

"Did  you  receive  much  spiritual  benefit  from  the 
services  at  St.  Peter's  this  morning  ?  "  said  a  friend  to 
me  as  we  were  leaving  the  British  Chapel.  "  Yes,"  I 
answered,  "  indirectly,  I  received  much ;  for  it  taught 
me  to  realize  the  value  of  our  own  services  as  I  never 
did  before,  and  I  trust  therefore  to  use  them  for  the  rest 
of  my  life  with  greater  benefit.  It  is  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  Church  in  the  days  of  Leo  X.  and  in  the 
time  of  Constantine." 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    CAPITOLINE    HILL. 

E  have  devoted  this  morning  to  antiquities ; 
and  as  strangers  in  winter  all  congregate 
about  the  Piazza  di  Spagna^  —  which,  by 
the  way,  is  the  site  of  the  old  Circus  of  Do- 
mitian,  —  we  were  obliged  to  pass  through  the  whole 
extent  of  the  city  to  reach  the  Capitoline  Hill,  which 
was  our  first  point.  We  went  through  the  Corso,  and 
by  the  old  Venetian  Palace,  and  then  threaded  our  way 
among  the  labyrinth  of  narrow,  filthy  streets,  until  we 
found  ourselves  at  the  base  of  the  Hill.  On  its  top 
once  stood  the  pride  of  Rome,  the  Temple  of  Jupiter 
Capitolinus,  which  was  filled  with  the  offerings  of 
princes  and  kings,  and  the  treasures  of  a  conquered 
world.  The  whole  earth  was  ransacked  to  add  to  its 
glory,  and  even  the  columns  of  Pentelic  marble,  which 
adorned  its  front,  were  brought  from  the  distant  plains 
of  the  Ilissus,  where  Grecian  genius  had  placed  them 
to  form  the  portico  of  one  of  its  own  beautiful  temples. 
But  it  has  passed  away  so  completely,  that  its  very  site 
is  a  subject  of  antiquarian  dispute. 

A  magnificent  fiight  of  marble  steps,  broad  enough 
for  an  army  to  mount  with  its  ranks  unbroken,  leads  up 
to  the  Hill.  At  its  base  stand  two  basalt  lions  —  old 
Egyptian  monuments,  brought  from  some  ancient  tern- 


54      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

pie  whose  faith  has  long  since  perished,  and  bearing  the 
impress  of  everything  which  comes  from  that  mysteri- 
ous land.  Colossal  and  frowning,  w^ith  that  strange, 
unearthly  expression  of  countenance  which  Egyptian 
sculptors  seem  always  to  give,  conveying  the  idea  of 
something  mystic  and  awful,  these  solemn  antique 
figures  remain,  age  after  age,  gazing  fixedly  and  se- 
verely forward,  as  if  the  silent  witnesses  of  all  the  deeds 
of  darkness  and  fear  which  are  going  on  in  the  chang- 
ing city  below  them.  They  are  fit  guardians  of  "  the 
Staircase  of  the  Lion,"  at  the  head  of  which  so  much 
noble  blood  had  been  shed,  when  it  was  the  spot  on 
which  for  ages  state  criminals  paid  the  forfeit  of  their 
lives.  The  broad  platform  at  the  summit —  "  the  Place 
of  the  Lion  "  —  where  these  tragedies  were  enacted  in 
the  view  of  all  Rome,  while  the  bell  from  the  Capitol 
above  tolled  mournfully  and  slow  to  show  that  a  soul  was 
passing  away,  is  now  filled  with  antique  statuary,  the 
colossal  forms  which  have  been  preserved  from  the 
wreck  of  the  Republic  and  the  Empire.  In  its  centre 
once  stood  a  gigantic  image  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus, 
made  from  the  armor  taken  from  the  Samnites  in  the 
fifth  century  from  the  building  of  the  city,  and  so  lofty 
that  it  could  be  seen  from  the  Mons  Latialis,  near  Al- 
bano,  a  distance  of  twenty  miles.^  Its  site  is  now  occu- 
pied by  the  magnificent  equestrian  figure  of  Marcus 
Aurelius,  the  finest  in  existence.  In  the  fourteenth 
century  the  place  of  the  statue  was  in  front  of  the 
Lateran,  and  it  bore  a  prominent  part  in  that  gorgeous 
show,  when  Rienzi  the  Tribune  cited  to  appear  person- 
ally before  him  the  kings  of  Bavaria  and  Bohemia,  to 
plead  their  own  cause  and  prove  their  claim  to  the  title 

1  Pliny,  lib.  xxxiv.  c.  18. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     55 

of  Emperor  of  Rome  —  a  proud  challenge  in  behalf  of 
the  liberties  of  Italy,  which  his  opposers  have  always 
ridiculed  as  the  splendid  folly  of  an  enthusiastic  mind, 
while  his  friends  have  lauded  it  as  the  sublime  darino- 
of  a  noble  nature.  When  the  historians  of  the  day  de- 
scribe that  royal  banqueting,  they  cite,  in  proof  of  its 
lavish  profusion,  that  from  morn  till  eve,  wine  poured 
out  like  a  fountain  from  the  nostrils  of  this  horse. 

The  summit  of  the  Hill,  around  the  three  sides  of 
"  the  Place  of  the  Lion,"  is  occupied  by  palaces,  built 
by  Paul  III.,  from  the  designs  of  Michael  Angelo.  The 
centre  is  the  Palace  of  the  Senator,  which  we  have  be- 
fore mentioned, — a  vast,  unoccupied  building,  where 
some  inferior  courts  of  justice  at  times  are  held,  and 
whose  great  bell  hangs  silent  in  the  tower  above,  being 
never  rung  except  on  the  death  of  a  Pope,  or  to  pro- 
claim that  the  Carnival  has  begun.  The  proud  ini- 
tials, S.  P.  Q.  R.,  are  placed  over  the  entrance  and  still 
carried  in  processions,  recalling  as  if  by  a  sort  of  mock- 
ery the  palmy  days  of  the  Repubhc.  The  Senator,  too, 
— for  that  august  body  has  dwindled  down  to  one  man, 
—  is  still  appointed,  and  the  Romans  say,  "  the  Senator 
represents  the  people."  His  office,  however,  is  a  mere 
shadow  ;  its  most  weighty  duty  being  that  of  carrying 
the  sacramental  vessels  between  the  High  Altar  and  the 
Pope  on  the  great  festivals  of  the  Church,  and  its  high- 
est privilege  that  of  standing  in  a  picturesque  dress  on 
the  second  step  of  the  Papal  throne  during  some  great 
ceremony. 

The  palaces  on  the  other  two  sides  of  the  square  are 
used  as  museums,  principally  for  the  works  of  antique 
art.  It  is  places  like  these,  indeed,  which  enable  Rome 
to  preserve  her  supremacy  over  the  world,  ruling  now 


66      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

in  the  realms  of  taste  as  she  once  did  in  those  of  arms 
and  religion.  Within  her  walls  are  gathered  most  that 
the  wreck  of  time  has  left  of  beauty,  from  the  creations 
of  Greece  or  ancient  Rome,  or  the  still  older  attempts 
of  Egypt  and  Etruria.  And  all  these  are  freely  opened 
to  the  pilgrim  to  this  land.  The  labors  of  Art  are  be- 
fore him,  from  its  achievements  in  far  distant  ages, 
when  men  dimly  imagined  a  grace  which  they  were  not 
able  to  embody,  down  to  its  perfect  triumph  in  crea- 
tions which  more  than  realize  his  brightest  dreams. 
Here  are  forms  steeped  in  an  atmosphere  of  beauty, 
and  he  can  dwell  upon  them  until  his  own  taste  has 
grown  into  faultless  purity. 

Let  us  enter  then  these  palaces,  and  at  once  we  have 
the  realization  of  what  we  have  just  written.  Sculp- 
ture has  preserved  the  heroes  of  all  times  and  coun- 
tries, and  they  are  before  us  with  the  life  which  charac- 
terized them,  when  the  artist  so  admirably  arrested  and 
fixed,  in  enduring  marble,  the  passing  expression. 
These  halls  are  crowded  with  their  busts  and  statues, 
and  now  there  is  gathered  on  this  Hill  a  nobler  assem- 
blage of  Consuls,  and  Princes,  and  Dictators,  than  ever 
trod  its  temples  in  their  living  day.^  When  the  sun- 
light plays  on  them,  you  are  dazzled  by  the  reflection 
of  the  white  marbles,  as  the  animated  figures  seem 

1  It  is  curious  to  mark  how  faithfully  the  marble  has  transmitted  to  us 
the  difference  between  the  early  Romans  and  the  late  P^mperors.  The  for- 
mer have  something  noble  and  elevated  in  their  looks;  while  those  who,  in 
the  last  ages  of  the  Empire,  were  called  to  the  throne  from  the  seraglio,  or 
the  ranks  of  a  barbarian  army,  show  in  every  lineament  their  mixed  blood 
and  vicious  habits.  A  similar  change  may  be  seen  in  the  busts  of  the 
Sledici  in  the  vestibule  of  the  Galeria  Imperiale  at  Florence.  In  every  gen- 
eration you  can  mark  the  deterioration.  There  is  a  regular  series  of  stages, 
from  the  stern  countenance  of  Cosmo  I.  and  the  magnificent  head  of  Lo- 
renzo, down  to  the  silly  face  of  Gaston,  the  profligate  buffoon,  with  whom 
the  family  expired  in  1737. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.      67 

often  starting  from  their  pedestals.  But  nobler  even 
than  these  life-like  copies  of  "  men  of  like  passions 
with  ourselves,"  are  the  forms  of  beauty  which  the 
artist  created  when  he  gave  himself  up  to  his  worship 
of  the  Ideal.  We  meet  with  group  after  group,  which 
realizes  the  dreams  we  had  over  the  studies  of  our  boy- 
hood, and  calls  up  again  the  bright  legends  of  the  Gre- 
cian faith.  Here  is  the  heroic  beauty  of  the  "  Apollo,'* 
while  the  shrinking  loveliness  of  many  a  fabled  goddess 
contrasts  with  the  austere  and  majestic  lineaments  of 
"  the  cloud-compelling  Zeus."  And  mingled  with  them 
is  that  antique  sacerdotal  sculpture,  the  only  memorial 
of  the  vanished  faith  which  once  prevailed  on  the  banks 
of  the  Nile.  Thus  the  spoils  of  art  have  been  widely 
gathered,  from  the  Temples  of  old  Egypt,  from  the  Por- 
ticoes of  Athens,  and  the  Forum  of  ancient  Rome. 

We  passed  a  morning  among  these  treasures,  which 
the  past  has  bequeathed  to  us ;  but  when  we  now  look 
back  upon  them,  all  seem  dimly  remembered,  or  rather 
almost  effaced  by  the  vivid  recollection  of  one  single 
statue  —  the  "Dying  Gladiator."  Standing  in  the 
centre  of  a  hall  to  which  it  gives  the  name,  it  is  the 
gem  of  the  whole  collection.  We  had  often  seen  casts 
of  it,  but  they  are  utterly  wanting  in  the  effect  pro- 
duced by  the  great  original.  They  fail  entirely  in  con- 
veying any  distinct  idea  of  its  excellence. 

The  figure  is  a  little  larger  than  nature,  and  repre- 
sents him  as  wounded  in  the  fight,  with  life  just  ebbing 
away.  He  is  reclining  on  his  sword  and  shield,  which 
have  fallen  beneath  him,  and  has  raised  himself  lan- 
guidly on  one  arm,  as  if  to  try  how  much  strength  re- 
mains. The  limbs  seem  to  be  gently  yielding  from 
languor^  as  weakness  creeps  over  him,  and  he  is  gradu- 


68       THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

ally  falling  to  the  ground.  He  is  evidently  insensible 
to  all  that  is  passing  around,  and  absorbed  with  his  own 
situation.  The  countenance  is  deeply  sorrowful  and 
expressive  of  agony,  but  we  see  that  it  is  more  than 
mere  physical  suffering.  There  seems  to  be  a  conflict 
going  on  within,  w^iich  is  shown  in  the  despair  of  the 
eye,  the  bitter  writhing  of  the  lip,  the  wrinkled  brow, 
and  the  abstracted  air  of  the  whole  visage.  Melancholy 
emotions  insensibly  creep  over  us  as  we  look  upon  him  ; 
and  herein  was  shown  the  artist's  skill,  that  he  should 
excite  these  feelings  by  the  mere  touching  display  of  a 
fellow-being  in  conflict  with  death.  Its  power,  indeed, 
rests  on  nothing  but  an  appeal  to  our  common  interests 
in  humanity,  for  there  are  no  adventitious  circumstances 
to  call  forth  our  sympathies.  There  is  no  heroic  in- 
terest about  the  Gladiator.  It  is  not  the  fall  of  one 
wliose  name  is  written  in  history,  or  whose  fate  can  at 
all  affect  the  world.  It  is  nothino:  but  the  death  of  a 
slave,  as  the  cord  round  his  neck  proves  him  to  be ;  yet 
we  are  forced  to  gaze  with  sympathies  which  can  be 
awakened  by  no  other  statue  in  existence.  The  Glad- 
iator's last  fight  is  over  ;  the  sweat  is  yet  upon  his 
brow,  clotting  together  the  thick  locks  of  hair  ;  his  ex- 
hausted strength  is  just  suffering  him  to  sink  to  the 
earth ;  and  it  seems  as  if  in  a  few  moments  more  he 
would  pass  away,  and  be  at  once  forgotten  among  the 
thousands  who  thus  fall  in  the  arena.  Yet  he  is  a  man, 
in  the  solemn  hour  of  death,  and  so  well  has  the  artist 
told  this  fact,  that  he  appeals  at  once  to  every  kindly 
feeling  in  our  common  nature.  And  as  genius  has 
always  an  affinity  with  genius,  we  find  that  one  of  the 
noblest  passages  in  "  Childe  Harold"  is  the  embodiment, 
in  the  language  of  poetry,  of  what  this  ancient  and  un- 
known sculptor  has  so  well  expressed  in  marble  :  — 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     59 

"  I  see  before  me  the  gladiator  lie : 
He  leans  upon  his  hand ;  his  manly  brow 
Consents  to  death,  but  conquers  agonj', 
And  his  droop'd  head  sinks  gradually  low  — 
And  through  his  side  the  last  drops,  ebbing  slow 
From  the  red  gash,  fall  heavily,  one  by  one, 
Like  the  first  of  a  thunder-shower;  and  now 
The  arena  swims  around  him:  he  is  gone, 
Ere  ceased  the  inhuman  shout  which  haiPd  the  wretch  who  won. 

"  He  heard  it,  but  he  heeded  not:  his  eyes 
Were  with  his  heart,  and  that  was  far  away; 
He  reck'd  not  of  the  life  he  lost,  nor  prize, 
■    But  where  his  rude  hut  by  the  Danube  lay, 
There  were  his  young  barbarians  all  at  play, 
There  was  their  Dacian  mother  —  he  their  sire, 
Butcher'd  to  make  a  Roman  holyday. 
All  this  rush'd  with  his  blood.     Shall  he  expire, 
And  unavenged  V    Arise,  ye  Goths,  and  glut  your  ire !  " 

Was  this  tlte  idea  which  the  artist  intended  to  de- 
velop?    We  know  not,  nor  does  it  matter.     We  are 
satisfied  with  tlie   interpretation   of  tlie  pilgrim-poet. 
But  after  examining  most  of  the  noblest  masterpieces 
of  antiquity  whicli  remain,  we  find  none  on  which  the 
memory  dwells  with  the  interest  it  does  on  this  single 
statue,  which,  as  we  gaze,  calls  back  eighteen  centuries, 
and  transports  us  to  the  arena  of  Roman  sports.     The 
"  Apollo,"  noble  as  it  is,  appeals  only  to  the  imagin- 
ation.    Even  the  "Venus  de  Medici,'*  the  glory  of  fair 
Florence,  touches  not  the  deepest  feelings.     You  seem 
indeed,  as  you  stand  at  its  pedestal,  to  inhale  an  atmos- 
phere of  beauty,  until  you  are  forced  to  confess  the 
power  of  antique  art,  and  realize  that  the  old  poetical 
mythology  must  have  furnished  inspiration  to  genius. 
You   turn    away   at    last,    "  dazzled   and    drunk   with 
beauty ; "  but  this  is  all.     There  is  no  appeal  to  the 
heart,  and  therefore  we   give  the    preference   to  the 
"  Dying  Gladiator,"  and  remember  it  as  the  very  per- 
fection of  what  can  be  wrought  by  the  chisel. 


60      THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

Leaving  the  Museum,  we  passed  around  the  base  of 
the  Hill,  and  came  to  the  side  which  formerly  over- 
looked the  ancient  city.     But  where  all  this  magnifi- 
cence once  stood,  nothing  is  now  to  be  seen  but  ruins. 
One  tide  of  desolation  after  another  swept  over  it,  until 
finally,  what  remained  was  ravaged  by  the  Normans 
under  Robert  Guiscard,  when  the  Capitol,  the  Coliseum, 
and  all  the  sun'ounding  antiquities,  seem  to  have  been 
hopelessly  shattered.     He  had  been  summoned  to  the 
relief  of  his  ally,  Gregory  VII.,  besieged  by  the  Em- 
peror Henry  in  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo.     The  Ger- 
man army  having  been  forced  to  retire,  the  Pope  was 
led  in  triumph  to  his  ancient  Palace  of  the  Lateran. 
It  was,  however,  a  rescue  dearly  purchased  by  the  Ro- 
man Pontiff.     On  the  third  day  the  people  rushed  to 
arms,  and  commenced  the  indiscriminate  massacre  of 
their  invaders.     Overpowered  by  numbers,  Guiscard 
at  last  gave  the  order  to  fire  the  city  ;  and  when  the  sun 
set  behind  the  Tuscan  hills,  Gregory  looked  out  from 
his  windows  on  a  scene  of  woe,  of  which  Rome  was  for 
centuries  to  bear  the  traces.     The  whole  sky  was  red- 
dened by  flames,  while  the  fierce  Saracens  —  who  com- 
posed a  part  of  the   Norman  army  —  gratified  their 
hatred  of  Christianity  by  plundering  every  church  and 
altar.     The  fires  swept  on  until  two  thirds  of  the  city 
were  destroyed,  and  the  noblest  monuments  of  Mediae- 
val   Rome    had    perished.      Then,   at   last,    Guiscard 
reigned  unopposed    amidst  the  smoking  ruins  of  this 
ancient  splendor  ;  but  Gregory  —  fearful  of  a  popula- 
tion more  hostile  to  him  than  ever  —  fled  from  the  city, 
shortly  after  to  die  in  exile. 

The  whole  of  the  Esquiline  seems  at  that  time  to 
have  been  laid  waste,  and  no  attempt  has  since  been 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.      61 

made  to  restore  its  monuments.  The  modem  city 
grew  up  on  the  other  side  of  the  Hill,  and  the  site  of 
Ancient  Rome  was  abandoned  to  desolation,  as  if  a  spell 
rested  over  it.  As  we  gazed  down  upon  its  hoary 
ruins,  all  seemed  silent  and  lonely ;  not  a  living  crea- 
ture visible  but  a  solitary  artist,  who,  sitting  on  the  base 
of  a  fallen  column,  was  sketching  some  of  the  time-worn 
monuments. 

Here  was  the  site  of  the  old  Forum,  "  the  field  "  in 
which  —  Lord  Byron  tells  us  —  "a  thousand  years  of 
silenced  factions  sleep."  It  was  evidently  once  sur- 
rounded by  a  colonnade,  which  must  have  given  it 
somewhat  the  form  and  appearance  of  the  Palais  Royal 
in  Paris,  or  the  Piazza  San  Marco  in  Venice.  We 
stood  within  it,  where  Cicero  had  pleaded,  and  count- 
less schemes  of  ambition  run  their  wild  career.  Above 
our  heads  towered  high  on  the  one  side  eight  granite 
columns,  which  once  formed  the  portico  to  the  Temple 
of  Vespasian ;  while  on  the  other  side  stand  three  lofty 
fluted  Corinthian  columns,  the  sole  remains  of  the  Tem- 
ple of  Saturn.  How  strange  they  look  as  they  are  seen 
in  contrast  with  the  deep  blue  of  the  Italian  sky,  so  tall 
and  solitary,  supported  by  no  wall  and  with  no  roof 
above,  nothing  near  but  the  ivy  which  wreathes  itself 
around  and  falls  in  graceful  festoons  from  their  sculp- 
tured capitals  I  Round  and  round  the  ruined  Forum 
pass  their  lonely  shadows,  as  if  this  was  Time's  dial,  and 
he  had  placed  them  there  to  mark  his  ages  as  they  went 
by.  Before  us  was  the  magnificent  triumphal  arch  of 
Septimius  Severus,  its  statues  still  remaining,  and  its 
inscriptions  uneifaced ;  while  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
Forum,  near  the  Portico  of  Vespasian,  rises  in  lonely 
grandeur  that  solitary  pillar  to  which  Byron  refers  in 
the  line,  — 


62       THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

"  The  nameless  column  with  a  buried  base." 

It  would  have  been  well,  perhaps,  for  our  interest  in 
this  monument,  if  its  origin  had  always  remained  thus 
mysteriously  concealed.  Later  excavations,  however, 
have  proved  that  it  was  erected  in  honor  of  the  Em- 
peror Phocas,  one  of  the  most  despicable  of  mortals. 
He  was  a  sanguinary  usurper,  whom  his  own  people 
having  abandoned  to  the  Persians  —  whose  envoy  he 
had  burned  alive  —  he  was  taken  by  them  and  put  to 
death.  And  yet  the  base  of  this  column  bears  the  in- 
scription,—  "To  the  most  clement  and  felicitous 
Prince  Phocas,  Emperor,  the  adored  and  crowned 
conqueror,  always  august,"  &c. 

Leaving  the  Forum,  we  stood  beneath  the  Arch  of 
Titus.  More  than  fifty  generations  have  passed  away 
since  this  monument  was  reared  to  commemorate  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem ;  yet  on  its  worn  and  broken 
compartments  we  can  still  trace  the  story  it  recorded. 
In  the  distance  are  imagined  in  rehef,  the  fearful  ac- 
companiments of  a  city  taken  by  assault,  —  old  men  and 
women  and  children  gathered  into  groups,  and  around 
them  an  enraged  and  brutal  soldiery.  On  one  side  are 
seen  the  Temple  walls  riven  by  fire,  and  just  tottering 
to  their  fall,  while  in  the  foreground  is  the  triumphal 
procession  of  the  victors  as  once  it  swept  over  this  very 
spot,  and,  amidst  the  shoutings  of  the  Roman  populace, 
ascended  to  the  Capitol.  Slowly  and  sadly  walk  the 
captive  Jews,  bearini^;  in  their  hands  the  spoils  of  their 
holy  worship.  The  tables  of  shew-bread,  the  seven- 
branched  golden  candlestick,  the  Jubilee  trumpets,  and 
the  incense  vessels,  are  there,  copied  from  the  originals.^ 

1  It  is  interesting  to  inquire  what  became  of  these  sacred  relics.    Josephua 
saj's  (DeBello  Jud.  lib.vii.  c.  v.)  that  the  veil  and  books  of  the  law  were 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     63 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  Arch  is  seen  the  triumphal 
chariot  of  Titus,  drawn  by  four  liorses.  He  is  standing 
within  it,  while  Victory  is  crowning  him  with  laurel, 
and  around  are  the  crowds  of  his  rejoicing  army,  lie- 
tors  carrying  the  fasces,  and  the  captives  dragged  in 
chains.  Even  to  this  day,  tlie  crushed  and  stricken 
Jew  will  not  walk  under  this  monument  of  his  coun- 
try's fall,  but  passes  round  it,  and  winds  his  way  by  the 
ruins  of  the  Temple  of  Peace,  or  else  among  the 
cnimbling  relics  of  the  Palatine  Mount.  Yet  time  has 
brought  its  retribution,  and  now  tlie  persecuted  Israel- 
ite, as  he  stands  by  this  monument  of  Hebrew  desola- 
tion, may  see  the  palaces  of  the  Imperial  family  one 
mountain  of  ruins. 

It  is  from  this  spot,  indeed,  that  we  have  the  noblest 
view  of  these  ancient  remains.  Here,  all  around  are 
the  monuments  of  the  past.  Behind  us  is  the  Forum 
and  the  scene  we  have  described  ;  before  us,  the  Arch  of 
Constantine,  and  the  Coliseum,  the  noblest  relic  of  old 
Rome ;  on  tlie  one  side  are  the  massive  ruins  of  the 
Temple  of  Antoninus  and  Faustina,  that  of  Venus  and 
Rome,  and  the  Basilica  of  Constantine  ;  on  the  other 
side  is  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars,  covering  the  whole 
Palatine  Mount  like  the  wreck  of  a  mighty  city, —  walls, 
and  arches,  and  porticoes,  mingled  with  the  vineyards, 

placed  in  the  palace  at  Rome,  and  the  candlestick  and  other  spoils  in  the 
Teniplo  of  Peace.  The  golden  fillet  is  mentioned  as  late  as  the  time  of 
Hadrian.  When  Genscric  entered  Rome,  among  other  spoils  which  he  car- 
ried to  Africa  were  the  Hebrew  vessels.  On  the  conquest  of  the  Vandals 
by  Belisarius,  A.  i>.  520,  they  were  recovered  and  taken  to  Constantinople. 
Procopius  states,  that  a  Jew  advised  the  Emperor  not  to  put  them  in  his 
palace,  as  they  could  not  remain  anywhere  else  but  where  Solomon  had 
placed  them;  and  this  was  the  reason  why  the  palace  in  Rome  had  been 
taken,  and  afterwards  the  Vandals  conquered.  The  Emperor  therefore, 
alarmed,  sent  them  to  the  Christian  churches  at  Jerusalem.  (Burton,  vol.  i. 
p.  236.)    From  that  time  all  trace  of  them  is  lost. 


64       THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLY  DAYS  IN  ROME. 

and  massive  columns  peeping  up  through  the  long 
grass,  or  dimly  seen  among  the  ivy  which  hangs  in 
thick  festoons  about  them. 

On  our  return  we  came  to  the  entrance  of  the  old 
Mamertine  prisons,  which  are  built  under  the  base  of 
the  Capitoline  Hill.  Livy  tells  us  they  were  begun  by 
Ancus  Martius  :  and  we  know  that  in  these  gloomy 
chambers,  Jugurtha  was  starved  to  death ;  the  accom- 
plices of  Catiline  were  strangled  by  order  of  Cicero ;  and 
Sejanus,  the  minister  of  Tiberius,  was  executed.  Sal- 
lust,  in  describing  it,  says,  —  "  The  appearance  of  it 
from  the  filth,  the  darkness,  and  the  smell,  is  terrific ; " 
and  such,  we  can  well  believe,  must  in  that  day  have 
been  the  case.  Tradition  has  consecrated  this  prison  as 
the  one  in  which  St.  Peter  was  confined,  and  in  the  six- 
teenth century  a  chapel  was  therefore  erected  over  it, 
the  walls  of  which  are  now  covered  with  votive  oflTer- 
ings  from  those  who  ascribe  their  cure  to  prayers 
offered  at  its  altars. 

Here  we  procured  a  guide  with  lighted  tapers,  and 
commenced  our  descent  into  the  dungeons.  A  flight 
of  twenty-eight  stone  steps  led  us  into  the  upper  cell. 
It  is  about  twenty-seven  feet  by  twenty,  constructed  of 
large  masses  of  peperino,  without  cement,  and  showing 
by  its  very  construction  its  high  antiquity  and  Etruscan 
origin.  From  the  first  chamber  a  still  farther  descent 
brought  us  into  the  lower  one,  which  is  only  about  nine 
feet  wide,  and  six  high.  The  massive  stones  of  the 
roof,  instead  of  being  formed  on  the  principle  of  an 
arch,  point  horizontally  to  a  centre.  There  was  for- 
merly no  entrance  to  either,  except  by  a  circular  aper- 
ture above,  through  which  the  prisoners  were  lowered, 
and  a  corresponding  aperture  in  the  floor  of  the  iippei 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.      Qb 

cell  to  lead  into  the  lower.  A  more  horrible  dungeon 
could  not  well  be  imagined.  There  is  a  stone  pillar  on 
one  side,  which  our  guide  —  a  young  priest  —  pointed 
out  to  us  as  the  one  to  which  St.  Peter  was  chained, 
and  in  the  centre,  welHng  up  tlirough  an  opening  in 
the  stone  floor,  is  a  fountain,  which  is  said  to  have 
miraculously  sprung  up,  to  enable  him  to  baptize  his 
jailers.  Processus  and  Martinian.  The  story  is,  of 
course,  intended  to  be  an  improvement  on  the  baptism 
at  Philippi.  Our  guide  also  pointed  out  to  us  in  the 
hard  rock,  the  impression  of  a  man's  face.  His  story 
was,  that  when  the  soldiers  thrust  St.  Peter  into  this 
gloomy  dungeon,  it  was  done  with  such  violence  that 
he  fell  against  the  wall.  The  hard  stone  immediately 
yielded,  as  if  it  had  been  soft,  received  the  impression 
of  the  Apostle's  face,  and  there  it  is  to  this  day.  It 
may  have  been  a  freak  of  nature,  but  we  should  think 
it  was  artificial.  We  asked  the  young  priest  if  he  be- 
lieved the  legend,  but  could  get  no  definite  answer. 
He  only  laughed  and  evaded  the  question.  It  was  evi- 
dent to  us  that,  like  the  ancient  philosophers,  he  had  an 
esoteric  and  an  exoteric  doctrine. 

From  this  spot  commenced  the  Via  Sacra.,  where 
Horace  tells  us  he  was  accustomed  to  walk,  —  "  Nescio 
quid  meditans  nugarum,  et  totus  in  illls."  Centuries 
of  rubbish  had  gathered  over  it,  so  that  the  surface  of 
the  ground  was  here  many  feet  higher  than  formerly, 
half  burying  the  columns  which  stand  around.  When 
the  French  held  Rome,  they  commenced  excavations, 
which  have  since  been  constantly  earned  on,  until  the 
old  pavement  under  the  Arch  of  Severus  was  uncov- 
ered, and  we  may  now  tread  the  same  causeway  which 
formerly  echoed  to  the  step  of  the  warriors  and  poets  of 


66       THE   CHRI^MAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

old  Rome.  Had  we  some  magic  wand  to  wave  back  the 
triumphal  processions  which  in  "  the  purple  days  "  of 
the  Empire  passed  over  these  stones,  what  a  gorgeous 
picture  would  they  form !  Captive  kings ;  princes 
from  the  far  East,  of  strange  language  and  costume ; 
wild  beasts  dragged  from  the  forests  of  Africa,  to  grace 
a  triumph  or  contend  in  the  Coliseum  with  men  scarcely 
less  savage  ;  cars  and  chariots,  loaded  with  the  spoils 
of  rifled  cities  ;  and  the  armed  legions  of  Rome  in  all 
the  bravery  of  their  conquests,  —  these  would  swell  the 
long  array  which  swept  before  us. 

We  passed  once  more  around  the  Hill,  to  find  the 
Tarpeian  Rock,  down  which,  in  the  days  of  the  Repub- 
lic, traitors  were  hurled  and  dashed  to  pieces  at  its  base. 
Though  surrounded  with  buildings,  and  the  soil  accu- 
mulated below,  yet  it  is  still  plainly  visible  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  Capitoline,  facing  the  Tiber.  We 
threaded  our  way  among  the  narrow  streets  beneath, 
and  ascending,  passed  through  a  garden,  when  we 
found  ourselves  standing  on  the  brink  of  an  abrupt 
precipice,  at  least  seventy  feet  in  height.  It  needed 
not  the  "  Ecco  !  Rupe  Tarpeja  !  "  of  our  ragged  guide, 
the  custode  of  this  classical  spot,  for  we  recognized  it  at 
once  as  the  place  described  by  Seneca,  when  he  says, 
—  "  It  is  chosen  that  the  criminals  may  not  require  to 
be  thrown  down  more  than  once."  And  here,  in  the 
ancient  days  of  Rome,  suffered  those  who  forgot  their 
allegiance  and  plotted  against  her  liberty  ! 

"  The  steep 
Tarpeian,  fittest  goal  of  Treason's  race, 
The  promontory  whence  the  traitor's  leap 
Cured  all  ambition." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    VATICAN. 

E  have  spent  several  days  in  different  parts  of 
the  Vatican.  The  gardens,  at  some  seasons 
of  the  year,  are  very  pleasant,  although  ar- 
ranged too  much  in  the  dull  uniformity  which 
was  the  fashion  a  century  ago.  When  we  visited  them 
in  the  month  of  January,  the  oranges  were  ripe  upon 
the  trees,  and  flowers  were  blooming  around  us.  They 
contain  some  beautiful  fountains,  and  some  which  are 
tortured  into  the  most  grotesque  shapes,  as  if  to  deviate 
as  far  from  nature  as  possible.  Like  every  other  part 
of  Rome,  we  find  here,  also,  some  antiquities  —  vases, 
columns,  and  statues,  which  have  been  dug  up  from  tlie 
ruins  of  the  ancient  city.  It  was  in  these  gardens  that 
Pius  VII.  was  accustomed  to  give  audience  to  ladies, 
a  custom  which  his  successor  has  abandoned,  having 
transferred  his  presentations  to  the  apartments  of  the 
Vatican. 

The  manufactory  of  mosaics  is  also  an  interesting 
place  to  visit,  particularly  after  seeing  the  magnificent 
pictures  in  St.  Peter's.  It  is  under  the  government  of 
the  Court,  and  few  of  its  works  are  allowed  to  be  sold. 
The  greater  part  are  intended  for  the  adornment  of 
churches,  or  else  as  presents  to  different  crowned 
heads.  The  number  of  tints  used  amounts  to  about 
ten  thousand,  and  some  of  the  large  pictures  take  from 


68      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

twelve  to  twenty  years  to  complete.  It  requires,  there- 
fore, not  only  care  and  patience,  but  also  a  high  degree 
of  artistical  skill.  These  little  tesserce  are  put  in  rough, 
and  the  full  effect  cannot  of  course  be  seen  until  the 
whole  surface  is  polished,  when  alterations  cannot  well 
be  made. 

We  passed  one  morning  in  the  halls  containing  the 
Library  of  the  Vatican,  which  is  well  known  as  being, 
in  some  respects,  the  finest  in  the  world.  It  was  prob- 
ably formed  at  a  very  early  period,  as  it  is  not  likely 
that  men  like  St.  Damasus  (in  the  fourth  century), 
who  was  celebrated  for  his  learning,  would  have  been 
unprovided  with  the  means  of  study.  We  find,  how- 
ever, no  express  record  of  it  before  the  days  of  Hilary 
(a.  d.  467),  who  established  two  libraries  in  the  Ba- 
silica of  the  Lateran  Palace.  In  the  sixth  century  we 
first  hear  of  the  Bibliothecarius  of  the  Apostolical 
Library,  an  office  which  has  been  filled  to  the  present 
day.  In  the  eighth  century,  the  collection  begun  by 
Hilary  was  transferred  to  the  Basilica  of  St.  Peter's, 
and  received  constant  additions.  Then  follow  several 
centuries  in  which  we  find  nothing  but  casual  allusions 
to  the  Papal  Library,  though  scattered  through  this 
period  are  the  w^orks  of  Roman  writers,  which  could 
not  have  been  composed  without  the  aid  of  many 
books,  and  particularly  those  of  ancient  authors.  We 
consider  this,  therefore,  one  proof  that  the  Library  must 
not  only  have  then  been  in  existence,  but  also  extend- 
mcr  its  influence. 

During  the  vicissitudes  and  troubles  of  the  Papal 
See,  in  the  days  when  rival  Popes  were  contending  for 
the  tiara,  it  seems  to  have  been  well  preserved.  When 
Clement  V.  removed  to  Avignon,  he  took  with  him  the 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     69 

literary  treasures  of  the  See.  At  the  end  of  the  seces- 
sion, Martin  V.  restored  them  to  Rome,  and  they  have 
since  been  constantly  increasing.  During  the  revival 
of  literature  under  Leo  X.,  that  Pontiff  sent  learned 
men  through  the  whole  East  to  purchase  oriental 
manuscripts,  to  add  to  this  collection.  Its  number  of 
printed  books  is  much  smaller  than  is  usually  supposed, 
not  exceeding  thirty  thousand.  It  is  in  manuscripts 
that  the  Library  is  so  particularly  rich,  numbering 
nearly  twenty-four  thousand ;  some  of  them  as  old  as 
the  fifth  century,  and  others  richly  illuminated  with 
pictures  and  miniatures,  to  execute  which  must  have 
been  the  labor  of  many  years. 

We  found  the  anteroom  filled  with  portraits  of  the 
librarians,  and  immediately  inquired  of  the  custode 
which  was  the  picture  of  Assemanni  ?  But  he  told  us, 
alas !  that  the  collection  was  limited  to  those  who  had 
attained  the  dignity  of  Cardinal,  and  as  such  had  not 
been  the  case  with  either  of  the  Assemanni,  both  were 
excluded  ;  and  yet  the  fruits  of  the  researches  which 
they  sent  forth  to  the  world,  will  preserve  their  names 
long  after  most  of  the  cardinals,  whose  portraits  grace 
these  walls,  have  been  forgotten.  In  the  long  list  of 
librarians,  indeed,  we  doubt  whether  any  were  as  con- 
versant as  Joseph  Assemanni  with  the  rich  treasures  of 
the  Vatican.  Scarcely  stirring  beyond  these  precincts, 
he  explored  them  year  after  year,  suffering  no  other 
earthly  interest  to  mingle  with  his  literary  dreams,  and 
so  absorbed  in  the  pursuit  that  the  remembrances  of 
early  youth  faded  away,  and  he  forgot  even  his  own 
distant  Syi'ian  home.  And  when  at  last  he  was  laid  in 
the  cemetery  at  Rome,  his  biographer  tells  us  that  he 


70      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

sorrowed  as  much  to  part  from  the  treasures  of  the 
Vatican,  as  from  his  decaying  hfe.^ 

There  is  httle,  however,  to  be  seen  by  a  mere  visit  to 
this  stupendous  collection.  The  manuscripts  cannot  be 
examined  except  by  an  express  order,  while  the  books 
are  inclosed  in  wooden  presses,  so  that  not  a  volume  is 
seen..  There  is  nothing,  therefore,  of  a  literary  air 
about  it,  as  in  the  Biblioihcque  du  Hoi  in  Paris,  or  the 
Bodleian  in  England,  where  you  see  the  walls  crowded 
to  the  ceiling  with  the  labors  of  the  learned.  You  may 
pass  through  these  long  halls  without  a  suspicion  that 
you  are  in  a  library.  Nothing  is  to  be  seen  but  painted 
cabinets,  Etruscan  vases,  and  pictures  of  the  early 
Councils  of  the  Church.  In  one  of  the  last  galleries 
are  collected  all  the  objects  of  interest  belonging  to  the 
early  Christians,  which  were  found  in  the  Catacombs. 
Here  are  their  personal  ornaments,  the  sepulchral 
lamps,  paintings,  and  the  instruments  of  torture  by 
which  so  many  suffered  martyrdom.  A  sight  of  these 
things  transports  us  back  to  the  early  ages  of  persecu- 
tion. We  look  upon  the  very  hooks  and  pointed  in- 
struments which  tore  the  flesh  of  those  who  "  counted 
not  their  lives  dear  unto  themselves  "  when  they  were 
to  be  preserved  by  apostasy  from  Christ. 

It  would  be  useless  to  attempt  to  describe  the  differ- 

1  Pasquin  made  the  appointment  of  Assemanni  the  subject  of  one  of  his 
witticisms.  His  two  predecessors  had  been  Holstenius,  who  had  abjured 
Protestantism,  and  Leo  Allatius,  a  Chian.  When,  therefore,  a  Syrian  was 
next  appointed,  the  following  distich  appeared :  — 

"  Praefuit  hsereticus.    Post  hunc,  scismaticus. 

At  nunc 
Turco  prcecst.    Petri  bibliotheca,  vale !  " 
We  believe,  indeed,  that  Assemanni  was  never  so  complete  a  Eomanist  as 
to  overcome  his  Syrian  prejudices,  and  that  his  church,  therefore,  regards 
with  much  more  favor  the  oriental  researches  of  Renardot. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.        71 

ent  parts  of  the  Vatican.  It  is  almost  a  ci^^iii_  itself! 
Murray  tells  us,  that  "  it  has  eight  grand  sMreases, 
two  hundred  smaller  staircases,  twenty  courts,  and 
four  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty-two  apart- 
ments." We  will  select,  therefore,  only  a  few  of  the 
principal  parts. 

We  succeeded  one  morning  in  obtaining  admission 
into  the  Sistine  Chapel  at  a  time  when  there  was  light 
enough  to  see  the  paintings.  In  the  large  saloon 
which  leads  to  it,  the  walls  are  covered  with  frescoes, 
one  of  which,  representing  the  "  Massacre  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew^'s,"  might  as  well  have  been  omitted,  it  not 
being  a  triumph  of  which  the  Church  of  Rome  should 
be  particularly  proud.  In  the  Papal  mint,  however,  can 
be  seen  a  medal  which  was  struck  in  honor  of  the  same 
occasion.  The  glory  of  the  Sistine  Chapel  has  always 
been  the  great  fresco  of  the  "  Last  Judgment,"  by 
Michael  Angelo,  which  entirely  covers  one  end.  It 
is  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  boldness  of  its  drawing, 
the  great  number  of  figures  introduced,  and,  of  course, 
the  anatomical  details.^  The  blessed  are  there,  rising 
from  their  graves,  ascending  into  heaven,  and  received 
by  angels  ;  while  demons  are  seizing  the  condemned 
and  dragging  them  down  to  the  pit.  It  of  course  gave 
opportunity  to  the  artist  to  display  his  great  power, 
as  every  possible  passion  was  to  be  delineated  ;  but 
the  picture  is  half  heathenish.  In  the  foreground  is 
Charon,  in  his  ferry-boat,  rowing  the  groups  over  the 
Styx,  and  strildng  the  refractory  with  his  oar.  This, 
however,  was  in  accordance  w^itli  the  spirit  of  the  age ; 

1  In  1841,  the  favorite  ballet  at  the  French  Opera  in  Paris  was  called 
The  Infernal  Gallopade  of  the  Last  Judgment,  all  the  attitudes  of  which 
;v'ere  taken  from  this  picture. 


72     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

and  Michael  Angelo  only  painted  the  retributions  of 
Eternity  as  Dante  had  described  them. 

It  may  be  a  great  want  of  taste,  yet  the  pictures  of 
Michael  Angelo  are  not  those  on  which  we  could  ever 
look  with  pleasure.  They  seem  more  intended  as  a 
study  for  artists,  who  can  dwell  with  delight  upon  the 
skill  of  the  fore-shortening  and  the  grandeur  of  the 
design,  than  they  do  to  excite  the  admiration  of  the  un- 
learned. This  very  picture  is  a  fair  illustration  of  his 
style.  It  is  full  of  sublimity,  yet  there  is  nothing  to 
touch  the  heart.  We  shrink  back  from  the  stern  and 
terrific  Being  who  is  hurling  down  his  foes  to  the  tor- 
ments of  the  condemned.  We  recognize  not  the  Son 
of  God  as  we  have  always  thought  of  Him.  He  is  here 
only  the  terrible  Minister  of  vengeance.  The  artist, 
too,  seems  to  take  a  savage  delight  in  delineating  the 
miseries  of  the  lost,  and  even  uses  the  divine  skill  with 
which  Heaven  had  endowed  him,  to  minister  to  his  re- 
venge. The  inspiration  he  had  imbibed  was  not  lofty 
enough  to  enable  him  to  forget  the  strife  and  bitterness 
of  private  life,  and  therefore  he  condemns  his  enemies 
to  immortality  by  painting  their  portraits  among  the 
damned.^ 

Look,  too,  at  his  pictures  of  the  "  Holy  Family,"  even 
the  most  celebrated  of  all,  which  is  in  the  Tribune  at 
Florence.  It  possesses  no  characteristics  of  grace  or 
beauty.     His   Madonna   is   a   noble   looking   woman, 

1  This  seems  to  have  been  somewhat  the  fashion  of  the  age.  Dante  re- 
cords in  his  poems  his  partialities  as  a  partisan,  and  places  his  enemies  in 
the  Inferno^  while  Da  Vinci,  in  his  "  Last  Supper,"  gives  Judas  the  likeness 
of  one  who  had  offended  him.  How  different  from  our  own  Milton,  who, 
bitter  as  he  was  as  a  politician,  when  he  had  "  his  garland  and  his  singing 
robes  about  him,"  seemed  to  shake  from  his  wings  all  the  entanglements  of 
earth,  and  to  soar  into  a  purer,  holier  region ! 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     73 

fitted  to  be  the  ancestress  of  a  race  of  heroes,  but  that 
is  all.  There  is  nothing  soft  and  attractive  in  the  coun- 
tenance —  none  of  that  touching  loveliness  wliich  we 
should  wish  to  recognize  in  the  Mother  of  our  Lord. 
For  these  traits  we  must  look  to  the  pictures  of  Raph- 
ael and  Poussin.  His  infant  Saviour,  too,  only  sug- 
gests to  us  the  idea  of  a  young  Hercules.  We  should 
pronounce  him  a  "  a  noble  boy,"  but  seek  in  vain  in 
his  lineaments  for  anything  divine.  There  is,  how- 
ever, one  painting  by  Michael  Angelo,  which  belongs 
to  the  class  of  subjects  he  should  always  have  chosen. 
It  is  "  The  Parca3,"  in  the  Pitti  Palace  at  Florence,  a 
strange  looking  picture,  with  very  little  coloring,  so 
that  it  seems  unfinished.  It  is  a  bold  design  of  the 
Three  Fates, — grave,  thoughtful,  and  severe, —  spinning 
and  cutting  the  thread  of  human  life.  The  conception 
is  Dante-like,  and  one  well  suited  to  the  character  of 
the  artist's  mind.  Lord  Byron  has  somewhere  re- 
corded his  admiration  of  this  picture. 

In  truth,  the  mind  of  Michael  Angelo  was  too  fiery 
and  impetuous  to  enable  him  to  execute  the  high  finish 
of  painting,  and  he  therefore  always  prided  himself  most 
on  being  a  sculptor.  His  signature  generally  was,  Michel 
Agnolo  Buonarotti^  Scultore^  and  in  one  of  his  letters  to 
Varclii,  he  says,  that  "  Sculpture  is  to  Painting  what 
the  sun  is  to  the  moon."  We  are  told  that  he  often 
struck  and  hewed  at  the  block  of  marble  with  a  des- 
perate energy,  as  if  struggling  to  extricate  the  form 
which  in  liis  imagination  he  saw  concealed.  For  a 
noble  evidence  of  his  talent,  we  should  look  at  his 
statues  of  the  gloomy  Lorenzo  and  the  armed  Ju- 
lian, in  the  Church  of  San  Lorenzo  at  Florence,  —  as 
Rogers  describes  them,  —  "two  ghosts,  sitting  on  their 


74       THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

sepulchres."  His  own  family  seem  to  have  taken  the 
same  view  of  his  characteristics ;  and  when  his  fellow- 
citizens  were  raising  his  splendid  monument  in  the 
Church  of  Santa  Croce,  and,  according  to  the  original 
design,  Painting  was  to  have  stood  in  front  of  the 
sepulchre,  his  relatives  remonstrated  most  urgently. 
As  they  considered  his  peculiar  excellence  to  have 
been  manifested  in  Sculpture,  they  contended  that  it 
should  have  the  post  of  honor,  and  the  whole  arrange- 
ment of  the  statues  was  accordingly  altered. 

But  to  return  to  the  Vatican.  We  passed,  on  our 
way,  through  the  Loggia  of  Raphael  —  open  porticoes 
covered  with  fresco  paintings  from  the  Old  Testament. 
The  first  —  the  "  Creation  "  —  is  one  of  those  pictures 
so  often  attempted  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  in  which  all 
reverence  seems  to  be  forgotten.  It  represents  the 
wildness  of  chaos,  —  clouds,  and  darkness,  and  the 
war  of  elements,  —  and  above  is  a  venerable  old  man, 
throwing  himself  upon  it,  to  reduce  to  order  the  ma- 
terials of  the  universe,  and  to  separate  light  from  dark- 
ness. It  is  a  vain  attempt  to  convey,  by  sensible 
objects,  an  idea  of  that  scene  which  the  words  of  In- 
spiration bring  before  us  so  sublimely  in  the  single 
sentence,  —  "  And  God  said.  Let  there  be  light :  and 
there  was  light." 

On  every  Monday  and  Thursday  the  Museum  of  the 
Vatican  is  open,  and  filled  by  eager  hundreds,  who  are 
gathered  in  groups  through  every  part  of  its  marble 
galleries,  studying  these  triumphs  of  human  genius. 
Here,  and  in  the  Museum  on  the  Capitoline  Hill,  are 
to  be  found  all  that  survive  the  wars  and  devastations 
which  have  swept  over  Rome,  all  that  her  ancient 
conquerors  brought  from  Greece,  and  all  that  her  own 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.      75 

artists  learned  to  create,  with  these  lifelike  forms  of 
Athenian  sculpture  as  their  models.  And  year  after 
year,  as  new  treasures  were  discovered  among  the 
buried  ruins  of  the  old  city,  this  collection  has  been  in- 
creasing, till  it  now  has  become  well  worthy  of  an 
artist's  pilgrimage  from  any  quarter  of  the  earth. 
Here  he  will  see,  in  some  shape  embodied,  all  those 
forms  of  beauty  which  have  been  flitting,  like  dim 
phantoms,  through  his  brain. 

It  takes  a  morning  merely  to  walk  through  this  col- 
lection. Long  galleries,  sometimes  a  thousand  feet  in 
length,  are  each  devoted  to  a  particular  subject.  One 
is  filled  with  Greek  inscriptions  from  the  old  tombs  ; 
another  with  busts  ;  another  with  sculptures  of  ani- 
mals ;  another  with  vases  ;  another  with  antique  can- 
delabra ;  while  at  every  turn  are  sarcophagi,  and 
altars,  and  Roman  baths,  which  have  been  dug  up 
among  the  ruins.  The  names  of  some  of  these  halls 
—  "the  Cabinet  of  the  Masks,"  "the  Hall  of  the 
Muses,"  "  the  Hall  of  the  Biga  "  —  may  convey  some 
idea  of  their  contents.  Old  Egypt  is  represented  here, 
ever  the  same,  with  her  strange,  uncouth  figures,  mel- 
ancholy sphinxes,  and  gods  mingling  the  monster  with 
the  man.  The  influence  of  intellectual  Greece,  too,  is 
everywhere  visible,  and  we  see  how  her  worship  of 
beauty  softened  and  refined  the  stem  grandeur  of  her 
conquerors. 

Here,  in  a  circular  hall  by  itself,  as  if  nothing  else 
was  worthy  to  stand  by  its  side,  is  the  "  Apollo  Belve- 
dere," and  around  its  pedestal  are  always  collected  a 
group,  studying  its  matchless  beauty.  It  is  not  the 
mere  development  of  a  human  form,  but  rather  the 
gathering  into  one  of  some  poet's  unearthly  concep- 


76      THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

tions  —  the  expression  of  some  ideal  beauty  that  never 
really  existed.  In  looking  at  it,  we  forget  everything 
physical,  in  comparison  with  the  soul  which  beams  forth 
in  every  feature.  He  stands,  with  arm  extended,  as  if 
the  arrow  had  just  parted  from  the  bow,  and  secure 
that  it  would  reach  its  mark,  he  is  tracking  its  course. 
"  Childe  Harold  "  speaks  of  the  "  beautiM  disdain  " 
visible  in  "  the  eye  and  nostril."  It  is  stamped,  in- 
deed, on  the  whole  countenance,  as  if  he  felt  an  immor- 
tal's contempt  for  the  object  of  his  vengeance. 

"  But  in  his  delicate  form  —  a  dream  of  love 
Shaped  by  some  solitary  nymph,  whose  breast 
Long'd  for  a  deathless  lover  from  above, 
And  madden'd  in  that  vision  —  are  express'd 
All  that  ideal  beauty  ever  bless'd 
The  mind  with,  in  its  most  unearthly  mood, 
When  each  conception  was  a  heavenly  guest  — 
A  ray  of  immortality  —  and  stood 

Starlike,  around,  until  they  gather'd  to  a  god !  " 

But  the  mere  beauty  of  the  execution  is  not  all. 
Could  a  modern  statue  be  formed,  no  way  its  inferior, 
it  would  not  by  any  means  possess  the  same  interest. 
It  is  the  thought  that  this  has  united  the  suffrages  of 
three  centuries.  The  intellectual  and  the  cultivated 
of  ten  generations  have  stood  before  its  pedestal,  and 
no  dissenting  voice  has  been  heard  denying  its  claim  to 
admiration.  Michael  Angelo,  and  Canova,  and  Thor- 
waldsen,  and  sculptors  from  all  lands,  have  studied  it, 
receiving  new  inspiration  as  they  gazed.  Countless 
writers,  too,  whose  names  are  familiar  in  the  annals  of 
Hterature,  have  delighted  to  pay  their  tribute  to  its  sur- 
passing beauty,  and  thus,  as  we  look  upon  it,  there  is 
added  also  the  charm  of  a  thousand  associations. 

Here,  too,  in  another  hall  by  itself,  is  the  group  of 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME,     77 

"  The  Laocoon  "  —  the  father  and  his  two  sons  in  the 
serpent's  coil  and  strain.  We  see  them  struggling 
with  the  desperate  energy  of  those  who  strive  for  life, 
—  seeking  to  unlock  the  living  links  which  are  wound 
around  them,  "the  long,  envenomed  chain," — yet 
striving  in  vain.  The  serpent  tightens  and  deepens  its 
coils,  and  rivets  them  more  firmly,  while  each  moment 
it  is  driving  its  fangs  deeper  into  the  old  man's  side. 
And  yet  with  this  group  we  were  disappointed.  The 
single  figure  of  the  father,  so  expressive  of  mortal 
agony,  if  it  could  be  seen  by  itself,  would  be  all  that 
we  could  desire.  The  sons,  however,  are  not  youths. 
There  is  nothing  juvenile  about  their  forms  or  features. 
They  are  merely  miniatures  of  the  father.  Parts,  too, 
are  restorations,  and  evidently  not  in  accordance  with 
the  original  outline  of  the  group,  injuring  the  effect  of 
its  intense  action. 

As  we  traverse  these  halls  we  cannot  but  realize 
the  superiority  of  sculpture  to  painting.  Zeuxis  and 
Apelles  were  in  their  day  what  Raphael  and  Guido  are 
in  ours,  but  there  remains  not  a  single  work  which  they 
executed ;  and  yet  here  are  the  beautiful  creations  of 
Grecian  sculpture,  as  fresh  as  they  were  twenty  cen- 
turies ago.  The  marble  has  faithfully  retained  its 
trust,  and  we  gaze  upon  it  now  as  when  it  came  from 
the  artist's  hands. 

But  Rome  is  still  a  sepulchre  of  beauty,  and  it  is  im- 
possible to  tell  what  treasures  may  yet  be  hid  beneath 
its  iniuis.  Pliny  informs  us,  that  the  number  of  statues 
was  equal  to  that  of  the  inhabitants,  and  many  are  now 
doubtless  covered  by  the  heaps  of  rubbish  which  have 
fallen  above  them.  The  elevation  of  the  ground 
througliout  the   city,  is  from  fifteen   to   twenty  feet 


78      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

above  its  original  level,  and  no  excavation  ever  is 
made  without  disinterring  some  remains  of  antiquity. 
Several  of  the  ancient  baths  are  still  unopened ;  and, 
could  the  Tiber  be  for  a  time  diverted  from  its  course, 
there  is  no  doubt  but  that  in  its  bed  would  be  found 
many  treasures  of  art,  which  were  buried  beneath  its 
waters  when  the  city  was  so  often  plundered  by  bar- 
barous enemies.  The  offer  to  undertake  this  work  has 
several  times  been  made  to  the  Papal  government,  but 
was  always  declined.  Raphael  proposed  in  his  day  a 
plan  for  a  thorough  exploration,  but  the  authorities  had 
not  energy  enough  to  adopt  it.  Had  Napoleon  con- 
quered in  Russia,  he  intended  to  have  made  a  tri- 
umphal entry  into  Rome  for  the  purpose  of  being 
crowned  in  St.  Peter's,  and  then  the  scheme  of  Raph- 
ael would  have  been  put  in  execution. 

There  are  but  fifty  pictures  in  the  Vatican,  but  one  of 
them  is  a  painting  allowed  to  be  the  first  in  the  world, 
—  "The  Transfiguration,"  by  Raphael.  I  know  not 
why  it  was,  but  my  first  impressions  were  those  of  dis- 
appointment, perhaps  because  my  expectations  had 
been  raised  too  high.  The  colors,  too,  are  said  to 
have  somewhat  changed  since  it  came  from  the  hand 
of  its  great  master.  After  seeing  in  France  and  Italy 
the  chef  d^oeuvres  of  the  first  artists  of  different  ages, 
and  realizing  that  Raphael  was  the  noblest  of  them  all, 
I  expected,  perhaps,  when  I  looked  upon  his  master- 
piece, to  see  more  than  human  genius  can  ever  exe- 
cute. But  every  moment  since,  it  has  grown  upon  me, 
until  I  felt  ready  to  subscribe  to  the  decision  which 
pronounced  it  the  greatest  triumph  the  pencil  ever  has 
achieved.  No  words  can  describe  the  aerial  lightness 
with  which  the  figures  of  the  Saviour  and  the  two 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.      79 

Prophets  seem  suspended  in  the  air.  They  appear 
floating  on  the  clouds,  while  around  them  is  spread 
an  effulgence  of  glory,  Avliicli  nowhere  else  have  colors 
been  able  to  produce.  The  Apostles  are  on  the  ground 
below,  veiling  their  faces,  as  if  smitten  down,  and  "  daz- 
zled with  excess  of  brightness."  But  it  was  on  the  head 
of  the  Saviour  that  Raphael  lavished  all  his  power,  at- 
tempting to  invest  Him  with  a  majesty  and  beauty  —  to 
array  Him  with  an  air  of  Divinity  —  which  would 
make  this  the  very  perfection  of  art.  There  is  but  one 
that  can  compare  with  it,  and  that  the  countenance  of 
our  Lord  in  Leonardo  da  Vinci's  "  Last  Supper "  at 
Milan.  There,  indeed,  the  artist  left  the  head  imper- 
fect, because  he  could  not  realize  his  conception  of  the 
celestial  beauty  it  ought  to  possess.  Yet,  unfinished  as 
it  is,  it  expresses  all  we  can  imagine. 

We  have  already  in  this  chapter  spoken  of  the  char- 
acteristics of  Michael  Angelo ;  Raphael  we  regard  as 
his  perfect  contrast.  It  has  been  well  remarked,  tliat 
the  former  seemed  to  have  imbibed  the  spirit  of  the  Old 
Testament,  and  the  latter  that  of  the  New.  Every- 
thing recorded  of  Raphael  appears  to  develop  a  loveli- 
ness of  disposition  most  foreign  to  the  stem  character 
of  his  great  rival.  Idolized  by  his  friends,  he  seemed 
formed  for  the  fullest  display  of  every  social  affection. 
Beauty  was  the  element  and  atmosphere  in  which  he 
lived,  and  his  most  pleasant  occupation  was  to  transfer 
tlie  loveliness  of  woman  to  his  almost  breathing  canvas. 
There  it  still  awakens  our  admiration  as  no  other  pro- 
ductions of  the  pencil  can,  for  the  centuries  which  have 
passed  sent  forth  no  rival  to  eclipse  his  fame.  And 
when  he  portrayed  subjects  of  a  sacred  character,  his 
work  appeals  at  once  to  our  affections.    With  the  spirit 


80       THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLIDAYS  IN  ROME. 

of  St.  John  he  painted  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  and 
we  recognize  in  the  portrait  which  he  has  drawn,  One 
who  can  be  "  touched  with  the  feeHng  of  our  infirmi- 
ties." His  pictures  therefore  teach  the  lessons  of  our 
faith. 

"  The  Transfiguration  "  was  Raphael's  last  work,  and 
before  it  was  completed  he  was  cut  off,  at  the  early  age 
of  thirty-seven.  But  seldom  for  centuries  past  —  if  we 
may  credit  the  account  of  those  who  saw  it  —  had 
Kome  witnessed  a  scene  like  that  which  took  place  on 
the  sweet  April  day,  when  this  divinest  painter  of  the 
age  was  borne  to  his  rest  in  the  Pantheon.  Yet  before 
that  solemn  march  began  —  that  march  which  knows 
no  return  —  his  body  was  laid  in  state,  with  this  his 
masterpiece  suspended  over  it,  the  last  traces  of  his 
hand  still  visible  on  the  canvas. 

"  And  when  all  beheld 
Him  ■where  he  lay,  how  changed  from  yesterday,  — 
Him  in  that  hour  cut  off,  and  at  his  head 
His  last  great  work;  when,  entering  in,  they  looked 
Now  on  the  dead,  then  on  that  masterpiece  — 
Now  on  his  face,  lifeless  and  colorless. 
Then  on  those  forms  divine  that  lived  and  breathed, 
And  would  live  on  for  ages,  —  all  were  moved, 
And  sighs  burst  forth,  and  loudest  lamentations." 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

PRESENTATION  AT  THE  PAPAL  COURT. THE  POP.iDOM. 

PRIVATE  LIFE  OF  THE  POPES. 

0-DAY  we  were  presented  to  his  Holiness 
Pope  Gregory  XVI.  by  our  Consul,  through 
whom,  as  we  have  no  minister  at  the  Papal 
Court,  all  the  necessary  arrangements  are 
made.  So  many  holy  days  and  other  public  festivals 
are  continually  occurring,  that  it  is  necessary  to  make 
application  some  time  before,  and  we  had  been  for 
several  weeks  waiting  his  Holiness'  leisure.  The  re- 
quired costume  is  the  same  as  on  other  occasions,  — 
the  ladies  in  black,  with  black  veils  over  their  heads, 
the  gentlemen  also  in  full  dress  of  black.  The  only 
difference  is  that  boots  are  forbidden,  —  a  very  disa- 
greeable arrangement,  as  passing  in  thin  shoes  and 
silk  stockings  through  the  cold  galleries  of  the  Vati- 
can, and  over  the  marble  floors,  an  invalid  would  be 
very  apt  to  take  a  cold,  for  which  his  introduction  to 
the  successor  of  St  Peter  would  hardly  be  considered 
a  sufficient  compensation. 

Twenty-two  hours  of  the  day,^  that  is,  three  o'clock- 

1  The  Roman  day  counts  its  hours  from  1  to  24,  beginning  at  sundown. 
As  this  is  rather  indefinite  for  a  starting-point,  and  from  its  daily  change 
would  be  very  inconvenient,  the  Cardinal  who  presides  over  this  depart- 
ment, issues  a  public  ordinance,  decreeing  at  what  hour  the  sun  ought  to 
set.  At  this  season  of  the  year  he  places  it  at  5  p.  m.  Three  o'clock  in  tho 
afternoon,  therefore,  is  twenty -two  hours  of  the  day. 


82      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

in  the  afternoon,  was  the  time  appointed,  and  punctual 
to  the  hour,  we  assembled  in  a  little  room  adjoining 
the  Sistine  Chapel,  where  we  remained  till  our  com- 
pany had  all  arrived.  Here  hats  and  cloaks  were  de- 
posited, and  the  Consul  drilled  us  with  a  few  instruc- 
tions, as  to  how  we  were  to  bow  when  we  walked  in, 
and  how  we  were  to  bow  when  we  backed  out,  and 
other  matters  of  equal  moment  in  the  etiquette  of  the 
Papal  Court.  Presently  a  servant  in  livery  appeared, 
to  conduct  us  to  the  anteroom  ;  the  procession  formed 
and  marshaled  by  him,  we  were  led  up-stairs,  and  on 
—  on  through  the  long  halls  and  corridors,  till  we 
reached  the  Hall  of  Maps,  so  called  because  its  walls 
are  covered  with  huge  maps,  painted  in  fresco  in  1581 
by  an  Archbishop  of  Alatri,  and  which  are  now  curi- 
ous, as  showing  the  geographical  knowledge  of  that 
day. 

Here  w^e  were  left  for  nearly  an  hour.  These 
vast  galleries  are  always  cold,  even  in  the  mildest 
weather,  and  as  this  happened  to  be  one  of  the  most 
severe  days  we  had  experienced  while  in  Italy,  and 
we  were  not  exactly  in  costume  for  such  an  atmos- 
phere, we  were  anything  but  comfortable.  A  large 
brazier  filled  with  coals  (the  usual  method  here  of 
warming  an  apartment)  stood  at  one  end,  round 
which  the  ladies  gathered ;  the  gentlemen  walked 
about  to  keep  themselves  warm  ;  while  some  of  the 
younger  members  of  the  party,  having  no  fear  of  the 
Pope  and  the  Vatican  before  their  eyes,  to  keep  their 
blood  from  congealing,  most  irreverently  ran  races  up 
and  down  the  gallery.  This,  by  the  way,  being  four 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  long,  seemed  admirably 
adapted  for  such  pui'poses. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     83 

At  length  the  usher  in  attendance  walked  in  and 
announced  that  II  Padre  Santo  was  ready  to  receive 
us.  The  presentation  was  very  different  from  what 
I  had  expected,  having  lately  read  the  account  of  one 
in  which  there  was  much  ceremony  —  the  guards  at 
the  doors  —  the  anteroom  filled  with  officers  of  the 
Court  —  and  the  mace-bearers  heralding  the  way. 
Everything  with  us  was  very  informal,  and  with  the 
exception  of  the  usher  and  two  servants  at  the  door, 
we  saw  no  attendants.  In  we  marched  in  procession, 
headed  by  the  Consul  in  full  uniform ;  the  ladies  next, 
the  gentlemen  bringing  up  the  rear,  and  found  om'- 
selves  in  a  long  room,  at  the  upper  end  of  which, 
leaning  against  a  table,  stood  the  two  hundred  and 
fifly-eighth  successor  of  St.  Peter.  We  bowed  as  we 
entered  the  door  —  again  when  we  reached  the  middle 
of  the  room  —  and  a  third  time  when  we  came  oppo- 
site to  the  Pope.  This  at  least  is  all  that  is  required 
of  those  who  "  worship  God  after  the  way  which  they 
call  heresy."  The  true  members  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  instead  of  bowing,  kneel  three  times,  and  end 
by  kissing  either  the  hand  or  the  embroidered  slipper 
of  his  Holiness.  It  is  said,  that  when  Horace  Wal- 
pole  was  presented  to  Benedict  XIV.  he  stood  for  a 
moment  in  a  posture  of  hesitation,  when  the  Pope, 
who  was  remarkable  for  cheei-fulness  and  humor,  ex- 
claimed, "  Kneel  down,  my  son ;  receive  the  blessing 
of  an  old  man  ;  it  will  do  you  no  harm  !  "  upon  which 
the  young  traveller  immediately  fell  on  his  knees. 
Kissing  the  Pope's. foot  is  not  so  easily  justified,  al- 
though the  usual  explanation  given  is,  that  it  is  to  the 
cross  on  the  slipper  thj^t  the  homage  is  paid.  But 
what  business  has  the  cross  in  such  a  situation  ?     It  is 


84      THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

curious,  too,  that  a  somewhat  similar  reason  was  given 
for  this  ceremony  under  the  old  Roman  Emperors. 
Caligula  was  the  first  who  offered  his  foot  to  be  kissed 
by  those  who  approached  him,  and  we  find  Seneca  de- 
claiming upon  it  as  the  last  affront  to  liberty,  and  the 
introduction  of  a  Persian  slavery  into  the  manners  of 
Rome.  Those,  on  the  contrary,  who  endeavored  to 
excuse  it,  asserted  that  it  was  not  done  out  of  inso- 
lence, but  vanity,  that  he  might,  by  this  means,  display 
his  golden  slipper  set  with  jewels. 

After  we  were  presented  and  had  ranged  ourselves 
in  a  semicircle  around  him,  he  commenced  at  once  an 
animated  conversation  with  the  Consul,  which  gave 
us  an  opportunity  of  quietly  studying  his  appearance 
and  manner.  He  was  dressed  in  his  every-day  cos- 
tume :  a  white  flannel  robe,  with  a  cape  buttoned 
down  before,  and  very  similar  to  that  worn  by  some 
orders  of  the  monks ;  a  little  white  skull-cap  on  his 
head,  and  red  morocco  slippers,  on  the  instep  of  each 
of  which  was  wrought  the  gold  cross.  His  snuff-box 
(another  cross  on  its  lid)  was  in  constant  use,  while 
ne  laughed  and  talked  in  the  most  sociable  manner. 
Notwithstanding  his  age — being  over  eighty  —  he 
seems  a  hale,  hearty  old  man,  whom  I  should  not 
have  imagined  to  be  more  than  sixty.  He  looked 
very  differently  from  what  he  did  in  the  public  ser- 
vices of  St.  Peter's,  when  I  supposed  him  to  be  feeble, 
and  it  is  probable  that  the  Cardinals  whose  heads  are 
aching  for  the  Tiara,  will  have  to  wait  some  years  be- 
fore the  aspirations  of  any  one  of  them  is  gratified. 
There  is,  however,  nothing  intellectual  in  his  counte- 
nance —  nothing  which  marks  him  as  one  worthy  in 
this  respect  to  sit  in  the  seat  of  Hildebrand.     His  f(3at- 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.      85 

ures  are  exceedingly  heavy  —  the  nose  too  large  and 
drooping  —  and  the  general  expression  of  the  eyes  one 
of  sleepiness.  The  impression  produced  upon  my 
mind  was  that  of  good-nature.  During  the  whole  au- 
dience  there  was  nothing  to  remind  me  that  he  was  the 
head  of  so  large  a  portion  of  the  Christian  world  —  still 
less,  that  he  was  a  temporal  prince  to  whom  many  mil- 
lions owed  subjection. 

After  inquiring  what  parts  of  the  country  we  came 
from,  and  whether  all  things  had  become  quiet  in  Phil- 
adelphia (alluding  to  the  riots  of  last  summer),  he 
suddenly  turned  to  us,  and  asked,  —  "  What  do  you 
intend  to  do  with  Texas  ?  "  It  was  certainly  a  curious 
place  in  which  to  hear  a  discussion  of  this  question, 
jut  the  Pope  seemed  to  feel  as  much  interest  in  the 
matter  as  if  he  had  been  one  of  our  own  Southern 
politicians.  His  knowledge  of  the  geography  of  our 
country  i-ather  surprised  me  at  the  time,  but  I  after- 
wards learned  that  he  had  formerly  been  for  many 
years  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda,  during  which  time 
the  whole  foreign  correspondence  was  submitted  to 
him,  and  he  is  therefore  somewhat  acquainted  with 
those  parts  of  the  United  States  in  which  there  are 
Roman  Catholic  Missionaries. 

After  about  twenty  minutes  there  was  a  pause  in 
the  conversation,  when  he  bowed  to  us  —  rang  a  small 
bell  on  the  table,  I  suppose  to  summon  the  usher  — 
and  we  commenced,  according  to  etiquette,  backing 
out  of  the  room.  The  Pope,  however,  immediately 
walked  into  the  recess  of  a  window  near  him  —  his 
usual  custom,  I  am  told,  to  relieve  strangers  from  the 
awkwardness  of  so  singular  a  mode  of  exit  —  and  we 
were  thus  enabled  to  turn  our  backs  to  him  and 
leave  the  apartment  in  the  ordinary  way. 


86       THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

At  the  close  of  a  presentation  it  is  customary  for 
the  Pope  to  bless  the  rosaries,  crucifixes,  medals,  etc., 
which  have  been  brought  for  that  purpose.  An  attend- 
ant, therefore,  was  at  hand  to  receive  them,  and  some 
of  the  party  having  come  well  provided,  the  articles 
were  carried  in  to  his  Holiness,  and  in  a  short  time 
brought  out  again  with  the  additional  value  they  had 
received  from  their  consecration. 

Nothing  can  be  so  joyless  as  the  life  of  the  Sover- 
eign Pontiff.  Weighed  down  as  he  is  by  cares  and 
business,  with  no  means  of  recreation,  the  quiet  and 
seclusion  of  the  cloister  would  be  a  happy  exchange. 
They  who  only  think  of  him  as  a  temporal  monarch, 
or  witness  his  splendor  amidst  the  ceremonies  of  the 
Church,  know  little  of  the  dull  uniformity  in  which 
his  days  are  passed.  Four  centuries  ago,  the  Popes, 
in  consideration  of  their  temporal  sovereignty,  dis- 
played in  their  palaces  the  same  magnificence  and  fes- 
tivity which  are  witnessed  at  other  courts.  The  old 
chronicles  describe  to  us  fetes,  and  pageants,  and  tour- 
naments, which  certainly  displayed  more  of  the  spirit 
of  this  world  than  of  the  next.  But  now  a  character 
of  austerity  seems  outwardly,  at  least,  to  mark  the  Pon- 
tifical Court.  The  vast  and  gloomy  apartments  of  the 
Vatican  are  deserted,  and  as  you  pass  through  them 
you  meet  no  one  but  the  officials  of  the  Palace,  or 
some  ecclesiastic  gliding  along  with  a  subdued  look 
and  noiseless  step.  You  might  imagine  yourself  in  a 
monastery  of  Carthusians.  The  Pope,  indeed,  is  at  all 
times  the  slave  of  tlie  most  rigid  etiquette.  The 
heavy  robes  of  his  office  trammel  his  steps,  and  he 
leads  a  life  of  restraint  and  confinement.  A  walk  in 
the   formal   gardens   of  the  Vatican   or  Quirinal;    a 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.       87 

quiet  ride  among  the  mouriifiil  ruins  of  former  ages  ; 
or  a  visit  to  some  clmrch  filled  perhaps  with  monu- 
ments which  announce  how  short  were  the  reigns  of 
his  predecessors,  are  his  only  sources  of  relaxation 
without  the  walls  of  his  own  palace.^ 

In  the  days  of  Leo  X.  the  hours  which  were  spent 
around  the  table  of  the  Pontiff  were  devoted  to  the 
highest  social  enjoyment.  While  literature  was  reviv- 
ing, it  was  there  that  its  progress  was  discussed,  and 
plans  were  canvassed  and  hints  given,  which  con- 
stantly suggested  to  this  Sovereign  of  the  House  of 
Medici,  new  schemes  for  restoring  its  former  glory. 
Philosophers,  orators,  and  artists,  gathered  there ; 
genius  was  encouraged  to  attempt  its  loftiest  flight ; 
and  the  poet  sang  his  noblest  verses  to  the  music  of 
the  sweet  lyre,  certain  of  a  favorable  audience.  The 
deep  mysteries  of  science,  and  the  lighter  graces  of 
literature  found  equal  favor  with  the  princely  Leo,  and 
in  his  presence  the  subtle  alchemist  from  the  far  East 
and  the  gay  troubadoiu*  of  Provence,  were  seen  side 
by  side.  There  seemed  then  to  be  an  inspiration  in 
those  saloons,  and  from  the  halls  of  the  Vatican  the 
new  Augustan  age  first  dawned  upon  the  world.  So 
it  had  been  before  at  Avignon,  and  as  we  explored  the 
ruined  palace  of  the  Popes,  we  thought  more  of  Pe- 
trarch who  came  thither  from  Vaucluse  to  recite  his 
sweet  sonnets,  than  we  did  of  the  Pontiff  and  Cardi- 
nals whose  applause  he  sought  to  win.  But  now  this 
too  is  changed,  and  custom  requires  that  the  table  of 
the  Pope  should  be  occupied  by  himself  alone.  His 
repasts  are  solitary,  unenlivened  even  by  friendly  con- 
verse. In  many  respects,  indeed,  this  change  is  a 
1  Eustace,  Class.  Tour,  vol.  iii.  p.  346. 


88       THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

favorable  one,  and  the  austerity  of  the  present  day  far 
better  becomes  the  head  of  the  Roman  Church  than 
the  gay  pageantry  of  the  former  centuries,  yet  it  ne- 
cessarily makes  his  life  solitary  and  cheerless. 

Elected  as  the  Popes  are  at  an  advanced  age,  they 
must  of  course  follow  each  other  in  rapid  succession. 
Gregory  XVI.  therefore,  having  been  elected  in  1831, 
has  had  a  longer  reign  than  usual.  He  is  not  a  man 
of  great  talents  or  remarkable  for  any  particular  traits 
which  pointed  him  out  for  the  office,  but  was  elected, 
as  is  frequently  the  case,  amidst  the  strife  of  parties. 
On  such  occasions,  some  inoffensive,  unexceptionable 
person,  generally  of  advanced  age,  is  chosen.  He 
seems  to  share  fully  in  all  the  antiquated  prejudices  of 
his  Church,  and  has  lately  issued  an  edict  forbidding 
all  railroads  within  the  Papal  dominions.  It  was  pro- 
posed to  construct  one  from  Rome  to  Naples,  and  the 
King  of  Naples  was  very  anxious  to  have  it  under- 
taken. In  fact,  during  the  winter  he  arrived  at  Rome 
and  it  was  stated  that  this  was  the  object  of  his  visit ; 
but  the  Pope  was  inexorable.  The  Court  fears  its 
subjects  having  too  great  facilities  for  travelling,  lest  a 
further  acquaintance  with  the  world  might  shake  their 
faith.  And  yet  Rome  is  supported  almost  entirely  by 
the  money  of  foreigners,  and  should  all  visitors  aban- 
don it  for  three  years,  the  city  would  be  given  up  to 
famine. 

What  a  strange  spectacle  does  this  history  of  the 
Popedom  present !  Aged  men,  reigning  but  a  short 
time  —  insulated  individuals,  deriving  no  claim  from 
relationship  to  those  who  went  before  them,  and  yet, 
amidst  all  the  changes  of  the  world,  bequeathing  their 
authority  to  those  who  came   after  them.     The  un- 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.      89 

broken  line  stretches  back  from  him  whom  we  saw  to- 
day in  the  Vatican,  to  those  Bishops  "  appointed  unto 
death  "  who  ruled  the  Christians  of  the  Imperial  City 
when  they  met  in  the  Catacombs  of  St.  Sebastian,  or 
died  as  martyrs  in  the  Flavian  amphitheatre.  Per- 
haps seventeen  centuries  ago  some  of  the  predecessors 
of  Gregory  XVI.,  as  they  saw  in  the  distance  the 
smoke  of  heathen  sacrifice  ascend  from  the  temple  of 
the  Capitoline  Jupiter,  were  unconsciously  standing  on 
the  very  spot  where  their  own  magnificent  St.  Peter's 
was  afterwards  to  be  founded.  Yet  great  as  is  the 
change  in  their  situation,  is  it  not  equally  so  in  the 
manner  in  which  they  bear  the  Apostolic  office  ? 
Would  Clemens,  "  whose  name  "  —  St.  Paul  tells  us 
—  "  was  written  in  the  Book  of  Life,"  have  recog- 
nized as  his  successors,  the  lordly  prelates  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  —  trampling  on  the  necks  of  kings,  and 
crushing  thrones  with  a  rod  of  ii'on  ?  Alas !  before 
the  days  of  Christian  unity  return,  Rome  must  go 
back  to  earlier  principles,  remembering  the  heritage 
of  suffering  which  once  she  received,  and  by  which 
she  grew  to  greatness.  Laying  aside  her  diadem,  and 
resuminor  once  more  her  ancient  crown  of  thorns,  the 
world  must  see  her,  sitting  no  longer  •  so  lordly,  but 
rather  ready  to  rejoice  if  again  she  should  be  counted 
worthy  to  suffer.  Then,  when  purified  by  trial,  she 
goes  forth  to  her  holy  work,  poor  Humanity  will  greet 
her  with  joy,  as  she  comes  preaching  the  gospel  of 
peace.  Yea,  the  Churches  of  the  world  will  make 
answer  to  her  call,  as  they  welcome  her  to  their  fellow- 
ship, feeling  that  again,  after  long  centuries  of  war- 
fare, with  one  mouth  and  one  heart  they  can  all  pro- 
fess the  "faith  which  was  once  delivered  unto  the 
saints." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

A  day's  ramble  in  ROME. 

E  have  been  out  to-day,  rambling  about 
from  one  scene  of  interest  to  another,  with 
no  fixed  plan,  but  wandering  in  accordance 
with  the  suggestion  of  the  moment.  There 
is  one  advantage  in  Rome,  which  is,  that  from  our 
childhood  we  have  been  familiar  with  pictures  and 
models  of  its  antiquities,  so  that  we  recognize  them 
at  once.  A  guide-book  is  scarcely  necessary.  We 
are  already  acquainted  with  the  story  of  each  old 
ruin,  and  want  nothing  but  a  map  to  conduct  us  to  the 
spot. 

We  first  sought  for  the  Pantheon,  through  the  nar- 
row, dirty  streets  which  have  been  built  up  around  it. 
So  crowded  indeed  are  the  modern  habitations,  that  it 
is  impossible  to  find  a  spot  from  which  this  unrivaled 
edifice  can  be  properly  viewed.  Eighteen  centuries 
ago  it  was  looked  upon  as  faultless,  and  criticism  since 
has  been  unable  to  urge  an  objection.  In  the  reign 
of  Augustus  there  were  g-athered  within  its  walls  stat- 
ues  of  the  gods,  in  gold,  silver,  bronze,  and  precious 
marbles.  Since  then  it  has  been  plundered  of  all  that 
could  be  carried  off,  —  the  statues  that  graced  its  cor- 
nice, the  bronze  which  adorned  its  d^me,  and  the 
silver  that  lined  the  compartments  of  it^  roof  within  ; 
yet   its   faultless  proportions   remain,    the  wonder  of 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.      91 

every  age.  The  original  inscription  on  the  front  still 
records  that  it  was  erected  by  Agrippa,  and  when  we 
enter,  we  stand  on  the  same  marble  pavement  once 
trodden  by  Augustus.  Its  rotunda  was  so  well  adapted 
to  the  change,  that  with  scarcely  an  alteration  it  passed 
from  heathen  worship  to  be  used  as  a  Christian  church. 
Not  only  was  Michael  Angelo  proud  to  copy  it  in  the 
dome  of  St.  Peter's,  but  even  Constantinople  is  in- 
debted to  it  for  the  plan  of  St.  Sophia.  Its  spoils  too 
are  dispersed  about  the  city.  Its  bronze  forms  the 
Balacchino^  or  grand  canopy  over  the  altar  in  St. 
Peter's ;  the  basaltic  lions  which  guarded  the  en- 
trance now  adorn  the  Acqua  Felice^  fountain  of  Sextus 
V. ;  and  the  beautiful  porphyry  sarcophagus  which 
once  stood  in  the  portico,  has  been  removed  by  the 
Corsini  to  their  chapel  in  St.  John  Lateran,  and  instead 
of  the  ashes  of  Agrippa,  now  holds  that  of  Clement 
XII. 

Above  is  a  circular  opening,  through  which  alone 
the  light  is  admitted,  and  the  interior  therefore  reflects 
every  change  in  the  atmosphere.  The  flush  of  mom, 
the  golden  radiance  of  noon,  the  pui-ple  hue  which 
fiUs  the  air  as  the  sun  is  going  down,  the  gray  twi- 
light, and  the  passing  shadow  of  the  darkening  tem- 
pest, all  are  repeated  and  mirrored  on  the  antique 
marbles  within.  At  night,  too,  it  is  strange  to  stand  in 
this  solemn  temple,  and  see  the  stars  shining  brightly 
in  the  deep  azure  above,  and  the  moon  flooding  the 
whole  firmament  with  her  glory,  or  seeming  to  chase 
the  clouds  which  are  rapidly  flying  past.  And  al- 
though the  rain  pours  in  year  after  year,  and  the 
Tiber  at  times  in  its  ovei-flow  reaches  the  pavement, 
yet  this  beautiful  relic  of  antiquity  seems  to  defy  alike 


92     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

the  elements  and  the  inroads  of  time.  We  see  it  in- 
deed in  its  "  disastrous  twilight,"  for  the  ages  which 
have  gone  have  dimmed  its  brightness  ;  yet  it  may  well 
be  questioned,  whether  the  deep  and  mellow  tints  it 
has  received  from  passing  centuries  do  not  impart  a 
majesty  it  did  not  possess  in  the  time  of  its  early  glory. 
It  has  too  in  our  day  a  nobler  consecration  than  when 
it  was  devoted  to  the  gods  of  the  old  mythology. 
The  niches  which  once  their  statues  filled,  are  now 
occupied  by  the  busts  of  those  who  were  distinguished 
for  genius  or  talent.  "  The  dearest  hope,"  says 
Corinne,  "  that  the  lovers  of  glory  cherish,  is  that 
of  obtaining  a  place  here."  Yet  the  visitor  will  pass 
the  tombs  of  Winkelman,  Metastasio,  Poussin,  and 
Annabal  Carracci,  to  pause  before  a  plain  inscription 
on  the  wall,  which  tells  us  that  Raphael  is  buried  be- 
low. What  a  fit  sepulchre  for  him,  the  divinest 
painter  of  his  age,  who  died  —  not  in  the  fullness 
of  his  years,  but  in  the  fullness  of  his  powers — just 
livino;  lono;  enouo;h  to  show  the  world  how  much  it 
had  lost ! 

But  of  such  a  building  all  descriptions  are  useless. 
The  words  of  poetry  seem  more  appropriate,  and 
Childe  Harold  has  summed  up  everything  in  a  couple 
of  stanzas: — • 

"  Simple,  erect,  severe,  austere,  sublime  — 
Shrine  of  all  saints  and  temple  of  all  gods, 
From  Jove  to  Jesus  —  spared  and  blest  by  time ; 
Looking  tranquillity,  while  falls  or  nods 
Arch,  empire,  each  thing  round  thee,  and  man  plods 
His  way  through  thorns  to  ashes  —  glorious  dome ! 
Shalt  thou  not  last?    Timers  scythe  and  tyrant's  rods 
Shiver  upon  thee  —  sanctuary  and  home 

Of  art  and  piety  —  Pantheon !  —  pride  of  Rome ! 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.        93 

*'  Relic  of  nobler  days,  and  noblest  arts ! 
Despoil'd  yet  perfect,  with  thy  circle  spreads 
A  holiness  appealing  to  all  hearts  — 
To  art  a  model;  and  to  him  who  treads 
Rome  for  the  sake  of  ages,  glory  sheds 
Her  light  through  thy  sole  aperture ;  to  those 
Who  worship,  here  are  altars  for  their  beads: 
And  they  who  feel  for  genius  may  repose 
Their  eyes  on  honor'd  forms,  whose  busts  around  them  close." 

We  turned  from  it,  looking  back  often  to  its  Corin- 
thian columns,  and  entering  once  more  the  labyrinth  of 
narrow  alleys,  sought  for  the  ruins  of  Pompey's  The- 
atre. But  a  few  massive  fragments  and  arches  now 
remain,  and  the  circular  shape  of  the  building  is  prin- 
cipally traced  by  the  manner  in  which  we  find  the 
houses  standing,  as  they  were  erected  upon  its  founda- 
tions. Having  been  seized  by  the  Orsini  during  the 
troubles  of  the  twelfth  century,  while  their  strong 
hold,  it  was  entirely  leveled  by  feudal  violence.  Yet 
in  its  magnificent  portico,  which  once  contained  an 
hundred  columns,  Appian  tells  us,  Brutus  sat  in  judg- 
ment on  the  morning  of  Caesar's  death,  and  close  by 
was  the  Senate  House,  in  which  — 

"  Even  at  the  base  of  Pompey's  statue 
Which  all  the  while  ran  blood,  great  Caesar  fell." 

From  this  spot  so  rich  in  historical  recollections,  we 
wound  our  way  through  the  narrow  and  dirty  Ghetto, 
which  is  allotted  to  the  Jews.  "  Sufferance  is  the 
badge  of  all  their  tribe,"  and  here  the  despised  and 
oppressed  Israelites  must  indeed  realize  it.  In  the 
midst  of  filth  and  noisome  smells  they  are  crowded 
together,  restricted  to  this  section  of  the  city,  while 
soldiers  mount  guard  at  the  gates,  which  are  every 
night  closed  and  kept  locked  till  morning.     Even  dur- 


94      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

ing  a  great  inundation  of  the  Tiber,  when  all  this 
quarter  of  the  city  was  under  water,  their  petition  for 
a  change  of  residence  was  denied.  As  there  happened 
to  be  no  danger  of  their  drowning,  they  were  not  per- 
mitted to  escape  until  the  regular  time  of  opening  the 
gates  in  the  morning,  nor  at  night  were  they  allowed 
to  seek  refuge  in  any  other  place.  Some  of  them  are 
wealthy,  but  the  meanest  beggar  who  sleeps  in  the  sun 
on  the  Scala  di  Spagna.,  if  he  pretend  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian, thinks  himself  at  liberty  to  spurn  them  from  his 
path,  nor  does  the  smitten  Jew  dare  even  to  remon- 
strate. With  the  Carnival  comes  their  more  pubhc 
degradation.  When  the  bell  sounds  to  announce  the 
beginning  of  the  Festival,  a  deputation  of  their  oldest 
members  ascend  to  the  Capitol,  and  there  kneeling 
bareheaded  before  the  Senator,  ask  permission  for  their 
people  to  reside  for  the  ensuing  year  in  Rome.  This 
is  granted  them,  on  condition  that  they  pay  the  ex- 
penses of  the  Carnival,  and  furnish  the  prizes,  which 
are  generally  pieces  of  gay  velvet.  Even  this  is  an 
improvement  on  their  former  state ;  for  in  old  times 
they  were  obliged  at  this  season  themselves  to  run  in 
races  through  the  Corso,  while  the  people  shouted  in 
derision  as  "  the  Jew  dogs  "  exerted  themselves  for 
their  amusement.  Now  they  perform  this  by  proxy, 
and  hire  the  horses  wliich  exhibit.  They  are  com- 
pelled also  once  in  the  year  to  be  present  in  one  of  the 
Churches  at  a  service  which  is  intended  for  their  ex- 
press conversion.  Where  it  is  held  we  did  not  learn, 
though  just  without  the  gates  of  the  Ghetto  is  a 
Church,  having  on  its  portal  in  Hebrew^  an  inscription 
from  Isaiah  Ixv.  2,  *'  I  have  spread  out  my  hands  all 
the  day  unto  a  rebellious  people,  which  walketh  in  a 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.      95 

way  that  was  not  good,  after  their  own  thoughts." 
The  situation  of  this  Church  would  be  convenient  for 
the  purpose,  though  the  inscription  is  by  no  means 
compHmentary  or  inviting.  The  Saturday  before 
Easter  is  appointed  for  the  baptism  of  the  new  con- 
verts, who  have  tlie  honor  of  receiving  that  rite  at  St. 
John  Lateran,  in  tlie  porphyry  vase  which  is  said  to 
have  been  used  for  the  Emperor  Constantine  in  the 
same  service.  Subjects  are  always  found,  although 
the  unbelievers  in  Rome  whisper,  that  one  proselyte 
has  appeared  so  often  on  this  occasion,  that  he  is  now 
regarded  as  a  regular  part  of  the  pageant. 

We  went  through  their  quarter,  where  the  lofty 
houses  seemed  bending  over  to  meet  each  other  from 
opposite  sides  of  the  narrow  street.  The  shops  were 
filled  with  the  usual  miscellaneous  assortment  of  goods 
characteristic  of  the  children  of  Israel — rags,  old 
clothes,  scraps  of  iron,  worn-out  umbrellas,  and  house- 
hold utensils  of  all  kinds.  Every  part  was  swarming 
like  a  perfect  hive ;  men  and  women  looking  out  of  the 
windows,  and  children  of  all  ages  sprawling  about  the 
doors.  Their  countenances  would  anywhere  have  pro- 
claimed their  descent,  as  they  screamed  and  gibbered 
to  us,  offering  their  petty  wares  for  sale,  and  with  the 
most  forcible  gesticulations  inviting  us  to  enter  their 
shops.  But  with  them  how  strangely  different  do  the 
two  extremes  of  life  appear  !  The  black-haired,  black- 
eyed  children  grow  up  into  beautiful  maidens,  and  then 
change  again  to  be  perfectly  hag-like  in  age,  as  if 
Nature  was  thus  revenging  herself  for  the  prodigality 
with  which  her  early  favors  were  lavislied. 

As  we  left  the  Ghetto,  we  passed  the  ruins  of  the 
Theatre  of  Marcellus,  its  Doric  columns  still  standing, 


96      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

embedded,  as-  it  were,  in  the  neighboring  houses,  when 
suddenly  we  found  ourselves  in  front  of  the  old  Palace 
of  the  Orsini.  We  knew  it  at  once  by  the  gigantic 
bear  —  the  crest  of  the  family  —  sculptured  in  stone  on 
each  side  of  the  portal,  and  it  reminded  us  of  their  old 
war-cry,  "  Beware  the  bear's  hug !  "  which  for  ages 
sounded  so  often  through  the  streets  of  Rome,  as  they 
met  in  conflict  the  adherents  of  the  rival  house  of  Co- 
lonna.  Their  old  baronial  Castle  of  Bracciano,  twenty- 
five  miles  from  Rome,  is  the  finest  of  the  kind  in  Italy. 
Vast  in  extent,  lighted  by  Gothic  windows,  still  con- 
taining the  family  portraits,  the  silk  hangings,  the  anti- 
quated furniture,  and  the  armorial  bearings  of  the 
Orisini,  it  is  a  complete  picture  of  a  feudal  residence 
in  the  fifteenth  century.  It  was  the  first  place  in  the 
vicinity  of  Rome  which  Sir  Walter  Scott  expressed  any 
anxiety  to  visit,  and  he  spent  a  day  there  listening  with 
interest  to  the  history  of  the  turbulent  lords  of  this 
ancient  fortress.  In  the  beginning  of  this  century  it 
was  sold  to  Torlonia,  the  Pope's  banker,  who  com- 
menced life  as  a  peddler,  and  \vvhose  son  now  holds  it, 
deriving  from  the  estate  the  old  feudal  title  once  borne 
by  the  Orsini  —  Duke  of  Bracciano. 

We  were  looking,  however,  for  the  Temple  of  Vesta, 
and  found  its  situation  to  agree  with  the  description  of 
Horace  in  the  Ninth  Satire,  where  he  represents  it  as 
lying  in  his  way  from  the  Via  Sacra  to  the  Gardens  of 
Caisar  trans  Tiherim.  But,  when  we  reached  it  on  the 
banks  of  the  river,  it  needed  no  guide  to  inform  us  that 
this  was  the  object  of  our  search.  There  it  was,  so 
small,  and  light,  and  beautiful,  that  it  seemed  as  if  it 
might  have  been  borne  through  the  air  by  angels,  as 
the  legend  tells  us  was  done  with  our  Lady's  Holy 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     97 

Chapel  at  Loretto.  The  wonder  is,  that  it  could  have 
remained  for  so  many  ages,  when  massive  buildings 
around  were  swept  away.  Yet,  of  its  twenty  Corin- 
thian columns,  only  one  is  gone,  and  tlie  little  circular 
temple,  with  the  pillars  round  it,  is  as  graceful  and  ele-  . 
gant  as  when  first  erected.  It  was,  indeed,  worthy  of  its 
purpose  ;  for  among  all  the  rites  of  ancient  heathenism, 
there  were  none  so  pure  and  poetical  as  these.  Here 
watched  the  consecrated  virgins,  whose  care  was  only 
to  tend  the  sacred  fire.  Noble  by  birth,  the  true  fulfill- 
ment of  their  vow  entitled  them  to  loftier  honors  than 
mere  nobility  could  claim ;  while,  if  they  erred,  theirs 
was  a  fearful  death  by  which  they  paid  the  penalty  of 
sin.  There  is  more  romance  still  lingering  about  this 
little  temple  than  all  the  other  antiquities  of  Rome. 

Near  the  Temple  of  Vesta  is  that  of  Fortuna  Virilis, 
whose  Ionic  columns,  half  buried  in  the  earth,  still  show 
what  it  must  have  been  in  the  beauty  of  its  early  day. 
While  we  were  looking  at  it,  one  of  the  crowd  of  ragged 
young  guides,  who  had  been  running  round  us  with  the 
most  profuse  offers  of  their  services,  pointed  out  a  house 
in  the  neiorhborhood  as  that  of  Rienzi.  The  name  at- 
tracted  our  attention,  and  upon  examining  the  build- 
ing, we  found  that  it  was  the  one  which  tradition  has 
always  marked  out  as  the  residence  of  "  the  last  of  the 
Tribunes,"  ^  —  he  of  whom  Lord  Byron  speaks  as  "  the 
hope  of  Italy  —  redeemer  of  dark  centuries  of  shame." 
The  edifice  is  a  strange  mixture  of  all  kinds  of  archi- 
tecture.    A  long  inscription  is  deciphered  by  antiqua- 

1.  "  The  first  stars  of  night  shone  down  on  the  ancient  Temple  of  Fortuna 
Virilis,  which  the  chances  of  time  had  already  converted  into  the  Church  of 
St.  Mary  of  Egypt;  and  facing  the  twice  hallowed  edifice  stood  the  house  of 
Rienzi.  '  It  is  a  fair  omen  to  have  my  mansion  facing  the  ancient  Temple 
of  Fortune,'  said  Rienzi,  smiling." — Bulwer's  Rienzi. 
7 


98      THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

rians  as  setting  forth  the  pompous  titles  of  Rienzi,  while 
another  on  the  architrave  of  one  of  the  windows  is 
ascribed  to  Petrarch.  He  was  in  Rome  during  the 
tTubilee,  and  may  at  that  time  have  caused  it  to  be 
affixed.  We  know  that  his  admiration  of  Rienzi  was 
great,  and  he  was  the  "  Spirto  Gentile  "  of  his  beauti- 
ful Canzone,  "  Italia  mia."  The  friendship,  however, 
of  the  poet  for  the  Tribune  was  the  source  of  many 
trials  to  the  former.  In  his  distant  retreat  at  Yaucluse 
he  heard  of  the  revolution  which  had  been  effected  at 
Rome,  and,  animated  by  his  love  of  freedom,  addressed 
to  the  bold  reformer  an  epistle,  in  which  he  exhorts 
him  to  complete  the  good  work  faithfully,  remembering 
that  the  world  and  posterity  were  his  judges.  But,  un- 
fortunately, the  old  Cardinal  Colonna  was  Petrarch's 
great  patron,  and  when  in  the  struggle  which  ensued  at 
Rome,  between  the  barons  and  the  new  power,  six  of 
the  Colonnas  perished,  the  poet  seems  scarcely  to  have 
known  with  which  party  to  side.  At  length  he  wrote 
a  tardy  letter  of  consolation  to  the  Cardinal,  in  which 
we  can  see  most  clearly  the  struggle  in  the  mind  be- 
tween his  gratitude  to  the  family,  and  his  sense  of 
higher  obligations  to  Italy.  • 

In  full  view  of  this  building  stands  the  massive  Arch 
of  Janus  Quadrifons,  which  in  the  Middle  Ages  under- 
went the  usual  fate  of  these  monuments,  and  was  trans- 
formed into  a  fortress  by  the  Frangipani  family.  The 
remains  of  the  battlements  of  brick  work,  which  they 
erected  on  its  top,  are  still  visible.  It  is,  indeed,  strange, 
when  we  remember  the  use  to  which  these  buildings 
were  then  put  by  the  great  Roman  families,  that  so 
many  of  them  have  survived  to  our  day.  Besides  this 
Arch,  the  Frangipani  seized  on  the  Coliseum ;  the  Or- 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     99 

sini  on  tlie  Tomb  of  Hadrian  and  the  Theatre  of  Pom- 
pey ;  the  Colonna  family  on  the  Mausoleum  of  Augustus 
and  the  Baths  of  Constantine  ;  the  Tomb  of  Coecilia 
Metella  was  converted  into  a  fortress  by  the  Savelli 
and  the  Gastani ;  the  ruins  of  the  Capitol  were  held  by 
the  Corsi ;  the  Quirinal  by  the  Conti,  and  the  Pantheoa 
by  the  garrison  of  the  Popes. 

Nor  is  much  greater  respect  for  antiquities  shown  in 
the  present  day.  The  magnificent  remains  of  the  Tem- 
ple of  Antoninus  Pius  are  now  converted  into  the  Do- 
gana,  or  Custom  House,  while  its  portico  —  one  of  the 
noblest  of  ancient  Rome  —  is  walled  up  to  fonn  maga- 
zines. The  Mausoleum  of  Augustus  is  deo-radcd  into  a 
wretched  Circus,  where  the  spectators  sit  round  on 
wooden  seats  as  in  an  amphitheatre,  while  beneath  them 
are  the  vaults  in  which  once  rested  the  remains  of  Au- 
gustus, and  Livia,  and  Tiberius.  In  the  wall  is  inserted 
a  slab  of  marble,  which  their  grateful  fellow-citizens 
have  placed  in  honor  of  divers  actors  and  equestrians, 
who  there  covered  themselves  with  immortal  glory  in 
the  presence  of  admiring  thousands !  And  yet,  this  is 
the  tomb  hallowed  by  the  touching  lines  of  Virgil, 
which  he  wrote  when  the  young  Marcellus  became  its 
first  occupant !  But  a  still  more  curious  scene  may  be 
witnessed  by  one  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  wind  his 
way  through  the  narrow  streets  and  alleys  which  lead 
to  the  fish-market.  There,  almost  every  stall  has  for 
its  counter  a  slab  of  marble,  taken  from  some  antique 
monument  or  temple,  and  sprats  and  gudgeons  are 
flouncing  about  upon  old  Latin  inscriptions,  w^hich  else- 
where would  be  a  treasure  to  the  antiquary.  Here, 
however,  their  very  abundance  deprives  them  of  in- 
terest.     About    the    market-place,    too,   arc    ancient 


100     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

columns,  the  inscriptions  on  which  show  that  they  were 
of  the  age  of  Antoninus. 

■  Every  place,  indeed,  teems  with  the  relics  of  old 
Rome's  magnificence.  Pillars  and  cornices,  richly 
sculptured,  are  seen  masoned  into  the  walls  of  the  most 
common  houses.  Granite  and  porphyry  pillars  are  so 
plentiful  that  they  cease  to  have  any  value.  In  the 
churches  are  ornaments  torn  from  Pagan  temples, 
which  there  produce  often  a  most  incongruous  effect. 
That  of  St.  John  Lateran  is  filled  with  marble  columns, 
from  the  tomb  of  Hadrian  and  the  Capitol,  on  which 
the  old  emblems  still  remain.  Some  have  carved  upon 
them  the  geese  which  preserved  the  city,  others  Gothic 
and  Arabic  ornaments.  In  St.  Agnes,  bas-reliefs,  turned 
for  convenience  face  downward,  are  used  to  form  a 
staircase.  These  are  the  sights  w^hich  meet  us  on 
every  side. 

But  to  return  to  our  excursion.  We  were  now  upon 
the  Verge  of  the  modern  city,  and  before  us  was  the 
more  open  country,  with  the  scattered  ruins  of  ancient 
Rome.  We  had  already  advanced  further  than  we  first 
intended,  yet  induced  by  the  beauty  of  the  weather  we 
still  went  on,  one  object  of  interest  leading  us  to  an- 
other. We  found  ourselves  near  the  Cloaca  Maxima 
—  those  immense  sewers  said  to  have  been  built  by 
Tarquinius  Priscus,  the  fifth  king  of  Rome,  only  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  foundation  of  the  city. 
Livy,  Strabo,  and  Dionysius,  all  describe  them  as  evi- 
dences of  Roman  greatness.  Pliny,  nearly  eighteen 
centuries  ago,  recorded  his  admiration,  and  expressed 
surprise  that  they  had  lasted  eight  hundred  years  unin- 
jured. Ancient  authors  tell  us  that  a  cart  loaded  with 
hay  could  pass  under  the  arch  ;    and  when  Agrippa 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    101 

cleansed  them  in  the  reign  of  Augustus,  he  went 
through  them  in  a  boat,  to  which  PHny  probably  al- 
ludes in  the  expression,  "  urbs  subter  navigata." 

To  my  mind,  however,  the  existence  of  these  works  is 
one  proof  that  there  was  a  city  on  this  spot  long  before 
the  days  of  Romulus.  I  number  them  with  tliose  traces 
we  here  and  there  find  of  earlier  ages  of  a  mysterious 
civilization  which  in  Italy  preceded  the  birth  of  Rome 
—  a  period  when  the  massive  Etruscan  tombs  were 
built,  and  those  temples  were  reared  in  Pa3stum,  which 
two  thousand  years  ago  the  Romans  were  accustomed 
to  visit  as  antiquities.  And  I  am  happy  to  find  that 
such  is  the  view  which  Ferguson  has  given  in  his  his- 
tory. "  These  works,"  he  says,  "  are  still  supposed  to 
remain ;  but  as  they  exceed  the  power  and  resources 
of  tlie  present  city  to  keep  them  in  repair,  tliey  are 
quite  concealed,  except  at  one  or  two  places.  They 
were,  in  the  midst  of  Roman  greatness,  and  still  are, 
reckoned  among  the  wonders  of  the  world,  and  yet 
they  are  said  to  have  been  works  of  the  elder  Tarquin, 
a  prince  whose  territory  did  not  extend,  in  any  direc- 
tion, above  sixteen  miles  ;  and  on  this  supposition  they 
must  have  been  made  to  accommodate  a  city  that  was 
calculated  chiefly  for  the  reception  of  cattle,  herdsmen, 
and  banditti.  Rude  nations  sometimes  execute  works 
of  great  magnificence,  as  fortresses  and  temples,  for  the 
purposes  of  war  and  superstition ;  but  seldom  palaces, 
and  still  more  seldom  works  of  mere  convenience  and 
cleanliness,  in  which,  for  the  most  part,  they  are  long 
defective.  It  is  not  unreasonable,  therefore,  to  question 
the  authority  of  tradition  in  respect  to  this  singular 
monument  of  antiquity,  which  so  greatly  exceeds  what 
the  best  accommodated  city  of  modern  Europe  could 


102     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME, 

undertake  for  its  own  convenience.  And  as  these 
works  are  still  entire,  and  may  continue  so  for  thou- 
sands of  years,  it  may  be  suspected,  that  they  w^ere  even 
prior  to  the  settlement  of  Romulus,  and  may  have  been 
the  remains  of  a  more  ancient  city,  on  the  ruins  of 
which  the  followers  of  Romulus  settled,  as  the  Arabs 
now  hut  or  encamp  on  the  ruins  of  Palmyra  and  Bal- 
beck.  Livy  owns  that  the  common  sewers  were  not 
accommodated  to  the  plan  of  Rome,  as  it  was  laid  out 
in  his  time  ;  they  were  carried  in  directions  across  the 
streets,  and  passed  under  buildings  of  the  greatest  an- 
tiquity. This  derangement,  indeed,  he  imputes  to  the 
hasty  rebuilding  of  the  city  after  its  destruction  by  the 
Gauls ;  but  haste,  it  is  probable,  would  have  determined 
the  people  to  build  on  their  old  foundations,  or  at  least 
not  to  change  them  so  much  as  to  cross  the  direction 
of  former  streets."  ^ 

At  this  day,  these  massive  works  are  as  entire  as 
when  the  foundations  were  first  laid,  and  are  a  lasting 
memorial  of  the  solidity  of  Etruscan  architecture.  The 
huge  blocks,  put  together  without  cement,  still  stand  un- 
moved, and  the  archway,  fourteen  feet  high  by  as  many 
broad,  expands  before  us  as  it  did  to  the  view  of  the  . 
Romans,  twenty-five  centuries  ago.  Yet  above  it  is 
a  bright,  clear  spring,  the  Acqua  Argentina,  or  Silver 
Water,  which  comes  bubbling  forth  and  disappears 
under  the  old  arch,  while  its  beautiful  stream  is  the 
more  delightful,  because  we  scarcely  expect  to  meet 
with  it  in  a  spot  intended  for  such  different  purposes. 

We  were  now  near  the  ruined  palace  of  the  Caesars, 
but  passed  it,  winding  around  the  base  of  the  Palatine 
Mount,  attracted  by  the  gigantic  arches  of  the  Baths  of 

1  Progresi  and  Termination  of  (he  Soman  Republic,  bk.  i.  ch.  i.  note. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    103 

Caracalla,  which  h'e  still  further  beyond.  They  are 
situated  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Aventine,  and  next 
to  the  Coliseum  are  the  most  massive  remains  of 
ancient  Rome.  More  than  a  mile  in  circuit,  they  are 
a  perfect  labyrinth  of  magnificent  ruins.  They  con- 
sisted originally  of  six  enormous  halls,  above  two  hun- 
dred feet  in  height,  the  crumbling  walls  of  which  alone 
remain,  while  the  deep  blue  sky  above  is  their  sole 
canopy.  The  interior  stretches  out  like  vast  lawns,  on 
which  some  elms  have  grown  up,  spreading  their 
branches  till  they  touch  the  ruined  walls.  In  one  of 
the  ancient  buttresses  still  remains  a  winding  staircase, 
by  which  you  can  ascend  to  the  top  of  these  lofty 
arches,  and  there  pass  around  among  the  broken 
masses  which  rise  like  mountains,  sometimes  treading 
on  the  very  verge  of  a  deep  chasm,  and  then  climbing 
some  crag,  whose  rough  masonry  is  entirely  overgrown 
with  foliage  and  vegetation.  Yet  in  all  this  there  seems 
to  be  no  air  of  desolation.  Everythino*  is  softened 
down  and  veiled  by  the  luxuriance  of  nature.  Wher- 
ever the  stones  are  reft  asunder,  a  perfect  wilderness 
of  flowering  shrubs  has  filled  up  the  chasm,  covering 
the  roughness  of  the  shattered  sides.  The  myrtle,  the 
bay,  and  the  white  blossoms  of  the  laurustinus,  are  en- 
twined with  the  profusion  of  creeping  vines,  which  are 
produced  in  this  luxuriant  soil. 

We  sat  down  on  a  block  of  marble,  and  thought  of 
the  past.  What  a  scene  of  splendor  was  this  in  its 
early  day  —  in  those  years  when  the  Romans,  ener- 
vated by  luxury,  sought  out  daily  new  pleasures,  and 
were  fast  preparing  for  their  "  decline  and  fiill !  "  And 
yet  to-day  we  were  treading  on  the  mouldering  ruins 
of  all  this  old  magnificence,  and  except  the  custode  ap- 


104     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

pearing  occasionally  through  some  shattered  arch,  not 
a  living  creature  was  seen  to  break  in  upon  the  soli- 
tude. Lofty  arches,  with  ivy  clinging  to  them  in  every 
direction,  and  hanging  in  deep  festoons ;  wide  saloons, 
where  formerly  the  gay  thousands  of  Roman  citizens 
gathered  ;  mosaic  pavements,  as  bright  and  beautiful 
as  they  were  seventeen  centuries  ago,  and  representing 
still  the  atJiletce  of  that  day;  fragments  of  ancient 
sculpture, —  these  were  around  us,  covering  the  hill  in 
strange  confusion. 

Among  these  ruins,  too,  Shelley  was  accustomed  to 
linger,  and  here  were  shaped  into  being  those  noble 
creations  which  he  has  given  us  in  his  "  Prometheus 
Unbound."  In  the  preface  he  says,  — "  This  poem 
was  chiefly  written  upon  the  mountainous  ruins  of  the 
Baths  of  Caracalla,  among  the  flowery  glades  and 
thickets  of  odoriferous  blossoming  trees,  which  are 
extended  in  ever- winding  labyrinths  upon  its  immense 
platforms,  and  dizzy  arches  suspended  in  the  air.  The 
bright  blue  sky  of  Rome,  and  the  effect  of  the  vigorous 
awakening  Spring  in  that  divinest  climate,  and  the  new 
life  with  which  it  drenches  the  spirits,  even  to  intoxica- 
tion, were  the  inspirations  of  the  Drama." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

EPIPHANY    SERVICES.  ^ GREEK    RITUAL. THE    BAM- 
BINO.  VESPERS    AT   THE   PROPAGANDA. 

HE  Festival  of  the  Epiphany  seems  to  be  one 
much  honored  here,  indeed  quite  as  much  so 
as  that  of  the  Nativity.  The  cliurches  are  all 
thronged,  and  the  day  is  celebrated  by  their 
most  splendid  services.  The  Pope  himself  performs 
High  Mass  in  the  Sistine  Chapel ;  but  as  we  had  al- 
ready witnessed  that  service  in  St.  Peter's,  we  per- 
ferred  being  present  at  one  which  takes  place  only  on 
this  single  day  in  the  course  of  the  year. 

Among  the  dignified  ecclesiastics  residing  in  Rome, 
are  many  foreign  bishops,  such  as  the  Greek,  Arme- 
nian, etc.  They  are  to  be  seen  in  grand  ceremonies, 
forming  a  part  of  the  processions,  and  by  the  variety  of 
their  costumes,  adding  to  the  splendor  of  the  pageant. 
A  few  days  before,  in  a  long  conversation  with  an 
ecclesiastic  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  I  endeavored  to 
discover  the  precise  position  of  the  Greek  Bishop,  with 
whom  I  found  he  was  intimate.  He  admitted  that  the 
Bisliop  had  no  jurisdiction  at  the  East,  no  fixed  diocese, 
but  said  that  his  duty  was  to  ordain  the  Greek  mission- 
aries sent  to  those  parts  from  Rome.  "  Is  his  authority 
acknowledged  by  the  Greek  Church  ? "  I  inquired. 
"Yes,"  said  he,  "by  the  Catholic  portion  of  that 
Church,  but  not  by  the  schismatics."    I  saw,  of  course. 


106     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

that  lie  meant  by  "  the  Catholic  portion,"  the  few 
Romish  missionaries  scattered  through  the  East,  and 
bj  "  the  schismatics,"  the  great  body  of  that  Church  ; 
and  therefore  said,  ■ — "  Then,  to  put  it  in  plain  language, 
he  is  looked  upon  by  the  Greek  Church  in  the  East,  as 
Bishop  Hughes  is  regarded  by  our  Church  in  New 
York,  we  acknowledging  the  jurisdiction  of  another 
bishop  ?  "  He  looked  at  me  for  a  moment  with  a  smile, 
and  then  replied,  —  "  Exactly." 

In  truth,  these  foreign  bishops,  with  dioceses  which 
they  have  never  perhaps  seen,  are  merely  retained  here 
as  parts  of  the  pageants  of  the  Church.  They  appear 
at  the  Court  of  Rome  as  the  spiritual  heads  of  millions 
in  the  East,  who  entirely  disown  their  authority  and 
have  no  connection  with  them,  but  at  the  same  time, 
with  the  many  strangers  here,  they  strengthen  the  idea 
of  the  perfect  Catholicity  of  this  Church.  They  give 
the  appearance  of  a  visible  unity  extending  through  the 
world,  which  in  reality  has  no  existence. 

In  the  Via  Bahuino  stands  a  church,  which,  daily  as 
I  passed  it,  attracted  my  attention,  from  the  fact  that  it 
seemed  always  to  be  closed.  While  every  other  church 
in  Rome  has  its  doors  open  for  any  transient  worship- 
per who  may  wish  to  offer  his  devotions,  morning, 
noontide,  or  evening,  this  was  the  solitary  exception. 
Week  days,  and  festivals,  and  even  Sundays  passed, 
and  still  it  was  entirely  deserted.  We  now,  however, 
found  an  explanation  of  the  mystery.  It  is  the  Church 
of  St.  Athanasius,  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Greek  Bishop,  and  as  there  is  no  one  to  attend  it,  is 
only  open  on  a  single  day  in  the  year.  This  is  on  the 
Festival  of  the  Epiphany,  when  High  Mass  is  performed 
according  to  the  ritual  of  the  Greek  Church.    We  saw 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    107 

it  announced  in  the  "  Diario  di  Roma,"  and  having  de- 
termined to  avail  ourselves  of  what  might  be  the  only 
opportunity  which  would  ever  occur  of  witnessing  this 
service,  we  repaired  at  an  early  hour  to  the  Church. 
It  is  quite  small,  without  anything  in  the  architecture 
or  paintings  to  attract  attention,  and  from  being  so  little 
opened,  had  the  damp  and  chilly  feeling  of  a  vault. 
The  congregation  seemed  to  be  composed  almost  en- 
tirely of  English,  drawn  like  ourselves  by  curiosity. 

The  Greek  Bishop  entered  with  a  procession,  and 
the  choir  at  once  commenced  their  anthem.  He  is 
not  more  than  forty-five  years  of  age,  with  a  coal- 
black  beard  covering  his  breast,  and  has  one  of  the 
the  most  noble  voices  I  have  ever  heard.  The  cos- 
tumes were  all  difterent  from  those  of  the  Roman 
Church  ;  the  Greek  cross  instead  of  the  Latin  was 
embroidered  on  every  part ;  the  features  and  long 
beards  of  the  attending  priests  plahily  showed  their 
eastern  origin  ;  and  every  thing  united  to  give  the 
service  a  peculiarly  oriental  appearance.  The  Bishop 
himself  came  in  clothed  in  purple,  and  after  being 
escorted  to  his  seat,  robes  of  white  and  gold  were 
brought,  and  his  attendants  commenced  arraying  him 
in  them.  This  process  occupied  nearly  half  an  hour. 
Whenever  he  took  part  in  the  service,  a  priest  knelt 
before  him  with  a  large  open  volume,  bound  in  white 
and  gold,  from  which  he  chanted  his  part. 

The  service  was  much  longer  than  the  Mass  of  the 
Roman  Church,  but  composed  of  the  same  kind  of 
ceremonies,  - —  kneeling,  crossing,  chanting,  the  wav- 
ing of  censers,  and  processions  of  lights.  There  is, 
however,  an  evident  significancy  and  meaning  in 
some  of  the  ceremonies,  which  requires  but  little  ex- 


103     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME, 

planation  to  be  understood  even  by  a  careless  specta- 
tor. For  example,  the  Bishop  frequently  held  up  be- 
fore the  people  branches  of  lights,  that  in  his  right 
hand  containing  three,  and  that  in  his  left,  two.  This 
has  been  adopted  to  express  their  faith  in  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity ;  heresies  on  this  subject  being  those  by 
which  the  Greek  Church  has  been  most  troubled. 
The  three  lights  signify  the  Three  Persons  in  the 
Trinity  ;  and  tlie  two  lights,  the  Two  distinct  Natures 
of  our  Lord.  The  High  Altar  was  behind  a  screen, 
the  part  immediately  in  front  of  it  being  open.  At 
the  consecration  of  the  elements,  when  the  Bishop 
was  standing  before  the  altar,  this  was  closed  by  a 
curtain,  and  for  some  time  his  voice  only  was  indis- 
tinctly heard,  while  he  himself  was  unseen.  This 
is  a  custom  which  has  been  for  ages  adopted  in  the 
Greek  Church.  It  was  at  first  commenced  as  a  meas- 
ure of  precaution,  because  the  rite  of  Baptism  had 
been  exposed  to  public  ridicule  on  the  stage,  and  they 
wished  to  guard  that  of  the  Eucharist  from  a  similar 
profanation.'  They  considered,  too,  that  such  mystery 
was  conformable  to  the  nature  of  this  solemn  Institu- 
tion, and  therefore  concealed  the  priest  from  public 
view,  and  environed  him,  as  the  high  priest  of  old 
when  he  entered  the  Holy  of  Holies,  with  the  awful 
solitude  of  the  sanctuary.^ 

Upon  the  whole,  as  a  mere  matter  of  taste  and 
splendor,  I  prefer  the  Greek  ritual  to  the  Latin.  It 
is  certainly  in  some  parts  more  imposing  than  anything 
we  have  seen  in  the  Mass  of  the  Roman  Church.  A 
living  writer  —  whose  opinion,  however,  must  be  taken 
with  some  allowance,  on  account  of  his  overweening 
I  Eustace,  Classical  Tour^  vol.  ii.  p-  40. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    109 

admiration  of  Rome  —  thus  contrasts  the  two  services : 
"  Two  observable  characteristics  of  the  Greek  ritual, 
are  its  very  dramatic  nature  and  its  humihty.  Its 
dramatic,  one  might  almost  say  over-dramatic  dispo- 
sition may  be  seen  particularly  in  the  ceremonies 
of  the  Holy  Week,  compared  with  those  at  Rome. 
Its  humility,  in  the  forms  of  Baptism,  receiving  con- 
fessions, and  absolving  penitents With- 
out presuming  to  criticize  the  Liturgies  of  the  two 
Churches,  it  may  be  allowable  to  note,  that  while  the 
Greek  ritual  of  the  Eucharist  is  more  dramatic,  so  to 
speak,  than  the  Roman,  it  is  scarcely  so  magnificent 
vx  its  tone,  or  so  rich  in  mystical  expositions,  neither 
does  it  exhibit  that  quickness  at  catching  expressions 
of  Scripture,  and  representing  them  in  devotional  ges- 
tures, which  is  so  marvelous  in  the  rubrics  of  the  Ro- 
man Missal."  ^ 

The  great  service  of  the  day  however  was  in  the 
Church  of  S.  Maria  d'Ara  Coeli.  This  is  a  strange 
looking  building  on  the  Capitohne  Hill,  erected  on  the 
foundation  of  the  old  Roman  temple  of  Jupiter  Fere- 
trius,  in  which  the  Spolia  Opima  were  deposited. 
The  ascent  to  it  is  by  one  hundred  and  twenty-four 
steps  of  Grecian  marble  taken  from  an  ancient  temple 
of  Romulus,  near  the  Porta  Salaria.  They  were  con- 
stinicted  in  1348,  the  expense  being  defrayed  by  the 
alms  of  the  faithful  after  the  great  plague  which  Boc- 
cacio  has  so  admirably  described  as  afflicting  Florence 
in  that  year.  The  age  of  the  Church  itself  is  un- 
known, although  all  agree  in  ascribing  to  it  an  an- 
tiquity not  lower  than  the  sixth  century.  Upon  enter- 
ing, your  first  impression  is,  that  it  is  composed  of  an 

1  F.  W.  Faber. 


110     THE    CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

assemblao-e  of  fragments.  The  materials  have  indeed 
been  plundered  indiscriminately  from  every  ancient 
building  within  reach,  and  of  the  twenty-two  large 
columns  which  separate  the  nave  from  the  side  aisles, 
no  two  are  alike.  Some  are  of  Egyptian  granite,  and 
some  of  marble  ;  some  white  and  some  black ;  two 
are  Corinthian  pillars  elegantly  fluted,  and  the  rest  are 
plain.  The  capitals,  too,  are  all  different,  and  as  none 
of  the  pillars  were  originally  of  the  same  length,  it 
was  of  course  necessary  to  raise  them  on  pedestals  of 
various  heights.  The  grotesque  effect  produced  by 
this  variety  may  be  imagined.  On  one  of  the  pillars 
is  the  inscription  in  antique  letters  —  "a  cubiculo 
AUGUSTORUM  "  —  wliich  would  seem  to  prove  that  tht 
Church  was  built  with  the  spoils  of  the  palace  of  the 
Caesars.  The  pavement  formed  of  mosaic  of  the  most 
rare  and  precious  marbles,  is  uneven  with  age,  and  the 
sculptured  images  of  knights  and  bishops  who  sleep 
beneath  are  rapidly  disappearing  under  the  tread  of 
the  thousands  who  pass  over  their  resting-place.  My 
principal  interest  in  this  building,  however,  arose  from 
its  connection  with  Gibbon,  whose  fascinatinor  narra- 
live  must  so  often  recur  to  the  mind  while  dwelling 
in  "the  Eternal  City."  It  was  in  this  Church,  as 
he  himself  tells  us,  "  on  the  15th  of  October,  1764, 
as  he  sat  musing  amidst  the  ruins  of  the  Capitol,  while 
the  barefooted  friars  were  singing  Vespers,  that  the 
idea  of  writing  the  '  Decline  and  Fall '  of  the  city  first 
started  to  his  mind." 

To  the  Romanist,  on  the  contrary,  this  Church  de- 
rives its  veneration  from  a  miraculous  wooden  fiorure 
of  the  infant  Saviour,  called  the  Santissimo  Bambino^ 
to  which  they  ascribe   especial  power  in  curing  the 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    Ill 

sick.  The  legend  is,  that  a  Franciscan  pilgrim  carved 
it  out  of  an  olive-tree  which  grew  on  the  Mount  of 
OUves,  and  while  he  was  sleeping  over  his  work,  St. 
Luke  appeared  and  painted  the  image.  It  is  a  coarse 
daub,  like  divers  portraits  of  our  Lord  which  we  have 
seen  ascribed  to  St.  Luke,  from  all  of  which  —  if  we 
believed  in  their  authenticity  —  we  should  draw  the 
inference,  that  his  talents  as  an  artist  were  somewhat 
below  those  of  a  very  ordinary  sign-painter.  The 
image  is  placed  in  a  side  chapel,  and  dressed  most 
richly,  while  gems  and  jewelry  sparkle  on  all  parts  of 
it.  Over  the  infant  is  bending  the  Virgin  in  an  ele- 
gant modern  ball  dress  —  red  satin,  with  cord  and 
tassel  round  her  waist ;  splendid  necklace,  with  a  veil 
gracefully  falling  over  her  and  fastened  to  the  back 
of  her  head.  Around  them  are  pasteboard  figures 
of  the  shepherds  and  the  wise  men,  the  oxen  and 
the  ass,  while  the  picture  is  completed  by  canvas  side- 
scenes,  background,  and  clouds.  The  view  seems 
to  extend  far  into  the  distance,  and  there  are  the 
hills  and  palm-trees  and  all  the  features  of  an  ori- 
ental landscape.  Altogether,  it  is  quite  pretty,  and 
the  deception  is  as  well  managed  as  it  usually  is  in  the 
theatre. 

On  the  Festival  of  the  Epiphany  this  scene  is  all 
represented  on  a  stage  erected  near  the  altar,  and 
crowds  of  peasantry  from  the  neighboring  country 
throng  the  Church.  In  the  afternoon  the  Bambino 
was  brought  out  in  solemn  procession.  First  came  the 
Cardinals,  who  offered  gifts,  —  I  suppose  in  imitation 
of  the  Magi,  —  and  then  the  image  was  solemnly  car- 
ried round  the  Church  amidst  kneeling  thousands. 
The    sick,  and   the   halt,  and   the  blind  were  there, 


112     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

"that  at  least  the  shadow  of"  the  wooden  image 
"  passing  by  might  overshadow  some  of  them.'* 
Mothers  held  up  their  sick  children,  that  they  might 
be  restored  to  health  by  a  sight  of  the  miraculous 
Bambino.  Afterwards  the  procession  moved  to  the 
front  of  the  Church,  where  the  open  square  on  the 
Capitoline  Hill  was  crowded  by  thousands.  Here 
once  more  the  image  was  elevated  to  bless  the  pros- 
trate multitudes,  and  then  for  another  twelvemonth  it 
was  restored  to  its  theatrical  little  chapel. 

In  the  evening  we  went  to  the  Chapel  of  the  Prop- 
aganda, which  by  the  way  is  not  open  to  ladies  except 
on  this  single  day.  This  Institution  is  celebrated 
throuo[hout  the  world  as  the  one  where  missionaries 
are  educated  for  all  heathen  lands.  The  Armenian 
Bishop  —  a  venerable  looking  man  with  a  long  white 
beard- — was  present  at  the  service,  which  was  the 
ordinary  Vespers.  The  students,  about  eighty  in 
number,  were  ranged  on  the  two  sides  of  the  Chapel, 
and  presented  a  strange  mixture  of  all  nations  and 
colors.  I  counted  among  them,  five  Chinese  and  two 
Africans.  Yet  here  they  all  sat  side  by  side,  without 
any  distinction,  singing  together  the  praises  of  their 
common  Lord.  Surely,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  that 
in  this  respect  Rome  carries  out  her  own  Catholic 
principles  and  declares,  not  only  in  words  but  by  her 
actions,  that  "  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations 
of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth."  She 
recognizes  no  distinctions  of  climate  or  country  in  the 
house  of  God.  We  had  just  before,  as  we  entered 
the  door  of  the  Chapel,  witnessed  a  similar  evidence 
of  this  Catholic  spirit.  An  old  man,  black  as  possible, 
in  a  clerical  dress,  was  just  getting  into  a  carriage 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    113 

He  was  assisted  by  two  priests,  who  with  manyljows 
and  demonstrations  of  respect  were  taking  leave  of 
him.  I  afterwards  learned,  that  he  was  an  Abyssinian 
priest,  who  having  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in 
missionary  labors  in  his  own  country,  had  now  returned 
to  die  at  Rome. 

The  chanting  at  the  Chapel  this  evening  was  with- 
out any  pretensions  to  the  character  of  fine  music,  yet 
there  was  something  to  me  very  inspiring  in  the  sound. 
Perhaps  it  arose  in  part  from  the  fact,  that  I  knew 
what  they  were  singing  —  only  the  pure  words  of  in- 
spiration, which  two  thousand  years  aojo  were  sung  on 
the  mountains  and  among  the  valleys  of  Judea,  and 
had  ever  since  been  the  sacred  hymns  of  the  Christian 
Church.  They  were  the  regular  Vesper  Psalms  for 
the  evening,  in  the  rich  i.nd  picturesque  language 
of  the  Vulgate,  where  the  orientalism  of  Scripture  is 
blended  up  with  such  curious  felicity  with  the  idiom 
of  the  Latin.i  The  chanting  was  antiphonal,  the  forty 
students  ranged  on  one  side  singing  the  first  verse, 
and  immediately  those  on  ^lie  other  side  taking  up  the 
strain  and  sinmng  the  second.  In  the  middle  of  the 
Chapel  stood  a  high  lectern,  and  when  each  Psalm 
was  ended,  seven  or  eight  students  —  among  whom 
were  two  Chinese  —  left  their  places  and  gathered 
around  it,  to  lead  the  .singing  of  the  Crloria  Patri^  in 
which  the  whole  assembly  on  both  sides  joined.  The 
organ  was  pealing  overhead  as  an  accompaniment,  and 
when  I  heard  the  deep-toned  sound  of  so  many  manly 
voices  chanting  the  rich  Latin  words,  and  saw  the  up- 
turned faces  of  those  who  stood  about  the  lectern,  I 
felt  that  it  was  indeed  a  solemn  and  impressive  ser- 

1  Milman's  History  of  Christianity,  vol.  ii.  p.  334. 


114     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

vice.  Widely  as  we  might  differ  on  many  points,  here 
at  least  was  a  common  ground.  The  words  they  sang 
were  the  heritage  of  each  branch  alike  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  and  if  uttered  with  a  true  heart  fervently, 
might  well  raise  them  above  the  cares  of  this  lower 
world,  to  the  same  lofty  devotion  which  elevated  the 
spirit  of  the  kingly  poet,  when  he  indited  these  sub- 
lime strains. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  TOMBS  OF  THE  LAST  STUARTS. 

HE  last  of  the  Stuarts  died  at  Rome,  where 
the  palace  which  they  occupied  in  the  Pi- 
azza de  S.  jS.  ApostoU,  to  this  day  bears  the 
name  of  the  Palazzo  del  Pretendente.  The 
Villa  Muti,  too,  which  the  Cardinal  York  owned,  has 
still  some  relics  of  the  family,  —  a  portrait  of  Charles 
I.,  a  bust  of  the  Cardinal,  a  picture  of  the  fete  given 
on  his  promotion  to  the  Sacred  College,  his  favorite 
walking  stick,  having  on  it  an  ivory  head  of  Charles 
I.,  and  a  bust  of  the  Chevalier  de  St.  George.  Sir 
Walter  Scott-,  when  in  Rome,  mspected  these  relics 
with  the  liveliest  interest.  He  admired  the  situation 
of  the  Villa,  commanding  a  splendid  view  over  the 
Campagna,  but  at  the  same  time  remarked,  while 
deploring  the  fate  of  his  favorite  princes,  that  "  this 
was  a  poor  substitute  for  all  the  splendid  palaces  to 
which  they  were  heirs  in  England  and  Scotland."  ^ 

Justly  as  the  Stuarts  were  expelled  from  England, 
there  is  still  something  in  the  fall  of  a  line  which  for 
ages  had  worn  crowns  and  borne  sceptres,  that  cannot 
but  enlist  our  sympathy.  We  felt  this  when  we  were 
travelling  in  their  native  land  —  visiting  the  deserted 
palaces  of  Holyrood  and  Linlithgow,  where  once  they 
held   their   court,    or  seeing   the   monuments   of  the 

1  Lockhart's  Life,  vol.  vii.  p.  275. 


116     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

early  members  of  tlieir  race.  The  chivalrous  traits, 
indeed,  which  marked  so  many  of  them,  particularly  in 
the  old  wars  of  Scotland,  —  the  gallant  death  of  James, 
when  he  disdained  to  fly  from  the  lost  battle,  but  fell 
in  his  knightly  harness  on  Flodden  field ;  the  bold 
attempt  of  the  young  Charles  Edward,  when  he 
landed  at  Moidart  with  only  seven  attendants  to  re- 
cover his  ancestral  throne ;  the  gentle  spirit  and 
mournful  fate  of  the  first  Charles ;  the  sufferings  of 
Queen  Mary ;  the  romantic  history  of  Arabella  Stuart, 
—  all  these  recollections  seemed  to  crowd  upon  us, 
awaken  our  interest,  and  almost  redeemed  the  char- 
acter of  the  family. 

It  was  to  the  Chateau  of  St.  Germain,  near  Paris, 
that  James  II.  retired  when  driven  fi'om  England,  and 
here  he  held  the  shadow  of  a  court  for  twelve  years, 
until  his  death.  When  in  Paris,  therefore,  we  felt  an 
interest  in  finding  his  tomb,  which  after  some  inquiry 
we  learned  was  in  the  Chapel  of  the  College  des  JEcos- 
sais,  within  the  city,  —  an  institution  founded  in  1325 
by  David,  Bishop  of  Moray  in  Scotland.  One  morn- 
ing we  repaired  thither,  and  summoning  the  porter, 
made  known  our  wish  to  see  the  Chapel.  He  con- 
ducted us  to  it,  —  a  small  and  simple  apartment  paved 
with  marble,  —  but  we  looked  around  in  vain  for  any 
monuments.  None  were  to  be  seen  except  the  in- 
scriptions on  the  pavement,  which  told  us  that  below 
were  buried  some  old  Scottish  Bishops,  whose  armo- 
rial bearings  were  there  carved  upon  their  tombs,  and 
whose  names  —  Barclay  and  Beatoun  —  are  familiar 
to  those  acquainted  with  the  history  of  their  native 
land. 

Not  seeing  what  we  wished,   we  inquired  for  the 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    117 

tomb  of  King  James.  The  custode  at  once  led  us  into 
an  adjoining  room  which,  he  said,  had  once  been  part 
of  the  Chapel.  Its  appearance  was  antique  from  the 
style  of  the  carved  seats  around  it,  and  the  stained 
glass  of  the  pointed  window.  At  one  end  was  a  large 
alcove  concealed  by  a  curtain  of  heavy  crimson  velvet. 
Our  guide  drew  it  aside,  and  before  us  was  the  mas- 
sive tomb  of  the  last  Stuart  king  that  reigned  in  Eng- 
land. It  is  about  ten  feet  high,  of  black  and  white 
marble,  executed  in  1703,  two  years  after  his  death. 
His  heart  is  all  that  was  interred  here,  the  rest  of 
his  body  being  buried  at  St.  Germain  where  he  died, 
and  where  another  monument  to  his  memory  has  been 
placed  by  order  of  George  IV.  This  one  was  erected 
by  his  faithful  friend  and  the  constant  companion  of  his 
exile,  James,  Duke  of  Perth,  governor  of  his  son,  the 
Pretender,  who  afterwards  assumed  the  title  of  James 
III.  On  the  top  of  the  monument  was  formerly  an 
urn  of  bronze  gilt,  containing  the  brain  of  the  king. 
It  was  in  that  day  the  custom  with  distinguished  indi- 
viduals, to  have  the  parts  of  their  body  interred  in 
different  places,  and  we  saw  the  same  thing  in  Vienna, 
where  the  Royal  House  of  i^stria  are  buried  in  one 
chapel,  while  m  another  are  their  hearts  in  silver  and 
gold  urns.  To  this  College  also  —  as  is  mentioned  in 
the  long  Latin  inscription  on  the  monument  —  the 
king  confided  all  his  valuable  manuscripts,  but  they 
unfortunately  disappeared  during  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. 

On  the  pavement,  in  front  of  the  king's  monument, 
is  a  slab  over  the  heart  of  the  queen,  and  another  over 
the  remains  of  Maria  Louisa,  their  second  daughter. 
Around    them   are    inscriptions    in  memory  of  James 


118     THE    CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

Drummond,  Duke  of  Perth ;  Mary  Gordon  of  Hunt- 
ley, Duchess  of  Perth ;  the  second  Duke  of  the  same 
name,  who  died  in  1726  ;  John  Caryl,  Lord  Dunford ; 
the  Duchess  of  Tyrconnel ;  Sir  Patrick  Monteath ; 
Sir  Marian  O'Conoly ;  Dr.  Andrew  Hay ;  Dr.  Lewis 
Innes,  Confessor  to  James  IL  ;  and  Dr.  Robert  Barclay. 
The  little  band  who  followed  their  exiled  king  in  his 
years  of  banishment,  and  shared  his  fallen  fortunes, 
are  here  sleeping  together  about  his  monument.  They 
were  faithful  to  him  in  life,  "  and  in  tjieir  death  they 
were  not  divided." 


When  the  visitor  is  wandering  through  St.  Peter's 
at  Rome,  pausing  every  moment  before  some  splendid 
tomb  of  a  Pope,  where  the  skill  of  Michael  Angelo, 
or  Bernini,  or  Canova  has  been  lavished  on  the  stat- 
uary, there  are  two  monuments  which  will  particularly 
arrest  his  attention.  One  is  a  richly  decorated  tomb 
against  the  wall,  intended  to  commemorate  the  virtues 
of  Maria  Clementina  Sobieski,  wife  of  the  Chevaher 
de  St.  George,  only  son  ft"  James  II.  At  its  base  is  a 
porphyry  sarcophagus  partially  covered  with  alabaster 
drapery,  in  which  her  body  is  deposited.  Above  is  a 
female  figure,  holding  in  her  hand  a  medalHon  portrait 
of  the  queen,  the  size  of  life.  It  is  of  mosaic,  but  so 
perfect  in  its  execution  that  it  cannot  be  distinguished 
from  a  highly  finished  painting.  In  the  inscription  on 
the  tomb,  her  titles  are  enumerated,  and  among  them 
she  is  styled  —  "  Queen  of  Great  Britain,  France,  and 
Ireland,"  She  was  the  granddaughter  of  King  John 
Sobieski,  who  defeated  the  Turks  at  Vienna,  and  at  the 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    119 

time  of  her  marriage  in  1715  was  called  the  greatest 
fortune  in  Europe.     She  died  at  Rome  in  1755. 

Immediately  opposite  to  it,  against  one  of  the  broad 
pillars  of  the  Church,  is  the  celebrated  monument  exe- 
cuted by  Canova  to  the  last  of  this  unfortunate  family. 
Sir  WilHam  Gell,  avIio  was  in  Rome  when  Scott  arrived 
there,  says  that  he  accompanied  him  to  St.  Peter's, 
which  was  one  of  the  first  places  he  resolved  to  visit, 
that  he  might  see  the  tomb  of  the  last  of  the  Stuarts. 
To  me  it  was  the  most  interesting  spot  in  this  vast 
building,  and  often  as  I  passed  through  it,  I  felt  in- 
clined to  turn  from  the  gorgeous  monuments  around  to 
this  more  simple  tomb  which  recorded  the  termination 
of  the  long  struggle  of  a  gallant  race,  having  on  its 
enduring  marble  the  proud  claims  which  they  did  not 
abandon  even  in  death.  It  is  a  white  marble  mauso- 
leum, about  fifteen  feet  high,  on  the  upper  part  of 
which  are  sculptured  the  royal  arms  of  England. 
Below  are  three  portraits  in  bas-relief.  Two  of  them 
are  in  half  armor,  and  the  third  in  an  ecclesiastical 
dress.  They  are  intended  to  represent  the  son  and 
grandsons  of  James  II.,  the  last  of  whom  died  here  as 
Cardinal  York.  Beneath  is  the  inscription,  —  "  Jacobo 
III.  Jacobi  II.  Magn^  Brit.  Regis  filio,  Karolo 
Edvardo,  et  Henrico,  Decaiso  Patrvm  Cardina- 
LivM,  Jacobi  III.  filiis,  Regi.e  Stirpis  Stvardi^ 
postremis,  anno  mdcccxix."  The  lower  part  of  the 
monument  is  occupied  by  a  representation  of  paneled 
doors,  closed  as  if  never  again  to  be  opened,  and  on 
each  side  of  them  stands  an  angel  with  an  inverted 
torch,  guarding  the  entrance.  These  two  female  figures 
are  beautiful,  and  looking  mournfully  down,  they  seem 
to  be  the  guardian  genii  of  tlie  ill-fated  family,  thus 


120     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  JN  ROME. 

watching  over  tlieir  last  resting-place.    Above  the  door 
is  the  quotation,  — 

"  BEATI  MORTUI  QUI  IN  DOMINO  MORTUNTUR." 

The  bodies  of  these  last  representatives  of  the  Stuart 
race  are  in  the  crypt  under  the  Church.  While  going 
through  the  vaults,  I  looked  for  their  tomb  in  vain, 
and  when  we  had  passed  nearly  to  the  end,  inquired 
of  the  young  priest  who  accompanied  us  with  his  lighted 
taper,  where  it  was  ?  He  said,  we  must  return,  and  he 
would  show  it.  We  did  so,  and  he  pointed  it  out  — 
a  plain  slab  of  marble,  so  small  that  we  had  passed  it 
unnoticed  among  the  many  inscriptions  around.  It  is 
against  the  wall,  a  few  feet  from  the  pavement,  while 
immediately  below  it  is  a  projection,  about  six  feet  long 
by  three  broad,  which  he  touched  with  his  hand,  and 
told  us,  that  within  this  were  the  bodies.  Yet  even  in 
these  dark  passages,  speaking  only  of  death,  and  sur- 
rounded by  the  memorials  of  those  who  had  long  since 
gone  down  to  the  dust,  the  same  lofty  claims  are  held 
forth.  The  inscription  on  that  simple  stone  announces 
to  us,  that  we  stand  by  the  sepulchre  of  "  James  the 
THIRD,  Charles  the  third,  and  Henry  the  ninth, 
Kings  of  England."  As  the  elder  brother  descended 
to  the  tomb,  the  younger  assumed  the  barren  title  he  had 
not  power  to  enforce,  and  bore  it  in  testimony  of  his 
rights,  until  he  had  done  with  earthly  crowns  forever. 
There  is  something  melancholy  in  this  inscription,  when 
we  remember  how  vainly,  yet  how  gallantly  they  fought 
to  regain  their  hereditary  throne,  and  how  many  thou- 
sands were  loyal  to  them  even  unto  death,  ascending  the 
scaffold  rather  than  desert  the  cause  of  the  ancient  line. 

We  felt  indeed  as  we  stood  by  their  tomb,  that  a 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    121 

more  appropriate  place  for  their  sepulchre  could  not  be 
found.  They  were  exiled  from  England  for  their  at- 
tachment to  the  Church  of  Kome,  and  in  the  noblest 
temple  which  that  faith  has  ever  reared  —  the  most 
magnificent  indeed  which  the  world  has  ever  seen  — 
they  have  found  their  last  resting-place.  There  their 
gallant  hearts  are  mouldering,  the  sufferings  of  their 
exile  atoning  for  the  errors  of  their  regal  sway. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   COLISEUM. PALACE   OF   THE    C^SARS. BATHS. 

HE  Coliseum  is  what  formerly  passed  under 
the  name  of  the  Flavian  Amphitheatre,  and 
is  now  the  noblest  remnant  of  old  Rome. 
It  is,  however,  only  a  massive  ruin  —  the 
mighty  skeleton  of  what  it  must  have  been,  when, 
thronged  by  the  gay  population  of  the  city,  its  seats 
were  occupied  by  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  specta- 
tors. Begun  by  Vespasian  ten  years  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  many  thousand  captive  Jews  were 
employed  in  its  construction  ;  and  when  it  was  finished, 
in  the  days  of  Titus,  five  thousand  wild  beasts  were 
slain  in  the  arena  during  the  games,  which  lasted  a 
hundred  days,  in  honor  of  its  dedication.  Such  was 
its  first  baptism  of  blood,  when  the  fierce  animal  of  the 
desert,  and  the  still  fiercer  human  being  with  whom  he 
fought,  poured  out  their  lives  together  upon  its  sands. 
Here,  for  four  hundred  years,  the  gladiatorial  shows 
took  place,  and  many  a  wounded  combatant  rolled  his 
eyes  around  these  lofty  seats,  to  see  in  despair  only  the 
signal  that  he  was  to  have  no  mercy.  To  this  spot,  in 
the  reign  of  Trajan,  Ignatius  was  brought  from  Antioch 
to  be  devoured  by  lions,  and  thus,  —  to  use  his  own 
words,  — "  like  God's  own  corn,  he  was  ground  be- 
tween the  teeth  of  the  wild  beasts."  The  last  martyr 
who  died  here  was  an  eastern  monk,  Telemachus,  who, 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    123 

in  the  reign  of  Honorius,  travelled  to  Rome  to  protest 
against  these  barbarous  exhibitions.  In  his  noble  en- 
thusiasm he  leaped  into  the  arena  to  separate  the  com- 
batants, and  was  torn  to  pieces  by  the  infuriated  specta- 
tors.^ But  tlie  impression  produced  by  this  voluntary 
sacrifice  was  so  profound,  that  the  Emperor  issued  an 
edict  prohibiting  these  bloody  shows. 

The  Romans  seem  to  have  been  a  race,  sanguinary 
beyond  the  ordinary  rules  of  our  nature.  Even  women 
shared  in  the  ferocity  of  their  mortal  combats.  They 
crowded  these  lofty  seats  around  us,  to  watch  the  for- 
tunes of  the  fight,  when  naked  barbarians  were  arrayed 
against  each  other,  in  a  contest  from  which  only  one 
must  retire  alive.  In  all  their  amphitheatres  —  here, 
and  at  Nismes,  and  at  Pompeii  —  we  find  honorable 
places  provided  for  the  vestal  virgins  ;  and  not  only 
were  they  present,  but  it  was  their  privilege  to  give  the 
fatal  siojnal,  which  condemned  to  instant  death  the 
wretch  who  had  been  unsuccessful  in  the  fight,  and 
to  watch  that  the  bloody  mandate  was  thoroughly 
obeyed.  A  more  fearful  picture  cannot  be  drawn  than 
that  which  Prudentius  gives  of  such  a  scene,  — 

"Virgo  —  consurgit  ad  ictus, 
Et  quoties  victor  ferrum  jugulo  inserit,  ilia 
Delicias  ait  esse,  suas,  pectusque  jacentis 
Virgo  modesta  jubel,  converse  pollice,  rumpi; 
Ni  lateat  pars  ulla  animse  vitalibus  imis, 
Altius  impresso  dum  palpitat  ense  secutor."  2 

So  deep  rooted,  indeed,  was  this  passion,  that  it 
seems  to  have  acted  like  a  frenzy  even  on  those  whose 
reason  protested  against  it.  St.  Augustine  tells  us  of  a 
Christian  young  man,  who,  being  induced  by  his  asso- 

1  Theodoret,  v.  26.  2  Prudent,  adv.  Syvi.  ii.  1095. 


124     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

ciates  to  enter  the  amphitheatre,  for  a  time  resolutely 
kept  his  eyes  closed.  At  length,  a  tremendous  shout 
of  the  spectators  induced  him  to  look  out  on  the  arena. 
The  instant  he  caught  the  sight  of  blood,  he  seemed  to 
imbibe  the  ferocious  spirit  of  those  around  him ;  he 
shouted,  he  cheered  on  the  combatants,  he  was  pos- 
sessed with  an  uncontrollable  fury,  and  when  he  de- 
parted, the  desire  to  return  was  too  irresistible  to  be 
withstood.^  Such  was  Koman  character.  Indeed,  a 
greater  contrast  cannot  be  given  than  that  which  ex- 
isted between  the  elegant  theatrical  shows  of  the 
Greeks,  where  they  assembled  to  listen  to  the  lofty 
tragedies  of  ^schylus  or  Sophocles,  and  the  brutal 
exhibitions  of  this  arena,  for  which  the  Roman  popu- 
lace gathered.  And  yet  these  separate  scenes  but 
illustrate  the  different  characters  of  the  two  nations. 

These  bloody  shows,  too,  were  often  on  a  gigantic 
scale,  which  we  should  suppose  could  hardly  have  been 
witnessed  without  insanity.  We  will  give  —  in  the  ex- 
pressive language  of  another  —  one  single  instance, 
that  of  the  Emperor  Claudius  at  the  Lacus  Fuci- 
nus.  "  It  is  one  mighty  theatre :  the  terraces  of  the 
Abruzzo  are  covered  with  eager  and  delighted  specta- 
tors. Claudius  himself,  with  the  bloody  Agrippina,  the 
young  Nero,  and  the  infamous  favorite,  Narcissus,  is 
seated  at  the  awful  show\  There  are  slaves  and  crim- 
inals to  the  number  of  nineteen  thousand.  They  are 
divided' off  into  two  fleets,  to  fight  against  each  other  on 
tlie  lake.  As  they  defile  past  the  Emperor,  they  cry, 
'  Hail !  O  Emperor !  The  dying  salute  thee.'  The 
Emperor  returns  the  salutation  in  such  a  way,  that  the 
poor  wretches  believe  they  are  pardoned,  and  break 

1  August.  Conf.  vi.  8. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    125 

forth  into  a  frantic  tumult  of  rejoicing,  for  they  love  life 
like  other  men,  and  have  red  blood  in  their  bodies,  and 
each  of  them  a  soul  as  immortal  as  thine,  O  Claudius. 
But  pardon  ?  Are  all  these  spectators  on  the  shelving 
slopes  of  the  lake-girdHng  Abruzzo  to  be  disappointed  ? 
The  Emperor  descends  to  the  brink,  and  explains  the 
mistake,  and  bids  the  praetorians  goad  the  reluctant 
victims  on  board  the  ships,  and  nineteen  thousand  im- 
mortal beings,  for  whom  Christ  had  died  some  twenty 
years  before,  murdered  each  other  in  a  mock  battle,  for 
the  pleasure  of  the  Roman  Emperor  and  people."  ^ 

It  was  a  solemn  thought,  therefore,  as  we  stood  in 
this  arena,  and  remembered  the  nature  of  the  amuse- 
ments in  which  the  fierce  multitudes  of  Eome  rejoiced, 
that  here  for  four  centuries  death  had  reaped  a  most 
abundant  harvest.  Leopards  from  the  East;  lions 
from  Africa  ;  bears  from  the  far  North  ;  and  whatever 
strange  and  rare  animals  the  conquered  provinces  could 
anywhere  furnish,  were  used  to  slaughter  the  helpless 
slaves,  whose  lives  they  considered  of  no  value  except 
to  contribute  to  their  sports.  Here,  too,  was  poured 
forth  the  blood  of  many  who  died  to  bequeath  the  pure 
faith  to  us ;  and  those  seats,  which  towered  so  high 
above  us,  were  once  filled  by  crowds,  rejoicing  with 
savage  exultation  to  see  how  a  Christian  could  die. 
Recollections,  therefore,  of  bitter  sufiering  crowded  on 
us  as  we  thought  of  its  old  magnificence,  and  we  felt 
that  dark  must  be  the  Penates  which  guarded  these 
majestic  ruins. 

The  latest  scene  of  bloodshed  which  took  place 
within  these  w^alls,  was  in  the  fourteenth  century,  and 
worthy  of  a  brief  notice,  as  giving  some  insight  into 

1  F.  \V.  Faber. 


126     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

the  manners  of  the  times.  It  was  in  September,  a.  d. 
1332,  that  the  population  of  Rome,  hke  their  fathers 
ten  centuries  before,  crowded  again  the  old  Coliseum. 
It  had  been  resolved  to  exhibit  there  a  bull-fight,  after 
the  Moorish  and  Spanish  fashion,  and  proclamations 
had  been  sent  through  all  Italy,  inviting  the  young 
nobles  to  exhibit  their  skill  and  valor.  The  day  had 
now  arrived,  and  temporary  seats  covered  these  time- 
worn  stones,  while  on  different  sides  were  three  balco- 
nies, lined  with  scarlet  cloth,  for  the  three  divisions  of 
Roman  ladies  who  were  to  grace  the  sports  by  their 
presence.  The  matrons  from  the  Trastevere,  beyond 
the  Tiber,  boasting  of  the  pure  blood  of  ancient  Rome, 
and  retaining  in  every  feature  the  haughty  lineaments 
of  antiquity,  were  led  by  the  fair  Jacova  di  Rovere ; 
while  the  nobility  of  the  city  were  as  usual  divided  be- 
tween the  rival  houses  of  the  Colonna  and  the  Orsini. 
The  charms  of  Savella  Orsini  —  says  Gibbon,  to  whom 
we  are  indebted  for  this  description  —  are  mentioned 
with  praise,  while  the  Colonna  regretted  the  absence 
of  the  youngest  of  their  house,  who  had  sprained  her 
ankle  in  the  garden  of  Nero's  tower.  Contemporary 
annalists  give  the  colors  and  devices  of  some  twenty 
of  the  most  conspicuous  knights,  and  their  names  are 
among  the  most  illustrious  of  the  Papal  States.  Such 
were  Malatesta,  Savelli,  Conti,  Annabaldi,  Altieri,  and 
Corsi.  None  of  the  Orsini  took  the  field,  though  three 
of  their  hereditary  enemies,  the  Colonnas,  were  among 
the  combatants.  They  each  bore  the  device  of  their 
house,  the  single  column,  with  inscriptions  denoting  the 
lofty  greatness  they  claimed  for  their  family :  "  Though 
sad,  I  am  strong  ;  "  "  Strong  as  I  am  great ;  "  "  If  I 
fall,  you  fall  with  me."     The  latter  was  indeed  the 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    127 

motto  usually  borne  by  this  princely  house,  and  was 
considered  as  addressed  to  the  Roman  people,  intimat- 
ing that  the  Colonna  family  was  the  support  of  the 
state,  and  if  one  fell,  the  other  would  be  involved  in 
the  same  ruin.  Each  champion,  in  succession,  de- 
scended into  the  arena  alone,  with  a  single  spear,  to 
encounter  a  wild  bull.  The  combats  were  dangerous 
and  bloody,  a  curious  renewal  of  the  old  conflicts  which 
once  took  place  on  this  same  arena.  In  proportion, 
too,  they  were  equally  fatal,  for  eighteen  of  these  vol- 
unteers were  killed,  and  nine  wounded.  But  the  old 
chroniclers  seem  to  think  that  this  also  had  its  use ;  for 
though  many  of  the  noblest  families  in  Rome  were 
called  to  mourn,  yet  the  pomp  of  the  funerals  at  the 
churches  of  St.  John  Lateran  and  St.  Maria  Maggiore 
furnished  a  second  holyday  to  the  people.^ 

It  was  on  a  bright  sunny  morning  that  we  first  went 
over  these  ruins,  which  awaken  such  a  host  of  varied 
recollections.  As  we  stood  on  the  highest  arch  and 
looked  down  into  the  arena,  and  round  on  the  wasted 
Campagna,  all  seemed  as  calm  and  peaceful  as  if  no 
scene  of  human  suffering  could  ever  have  been  occur- 
ring there.  Not  a  sound  was  heard,  except  the  notes 
of  the  birds  singing  among  the  ivy  which  had  forced 
itself  between  the  stones.  But  these  remains  are  in 
their  massive  character  unlike  anything  else  we  have 
seen.  The  immense  stones  of  which  the  building  was 
formed,  have  been  shattered  into  the  most  picturesque 
shapes,  until  as  they  project  above  us,  they  have 
the  form  of  overhanmnff  rocks.  You  can  however 
plainly  trace  every  part,  —  the  immeasurable  galleries, 
the  seats  of  the  Patricians  and  Plebeians,  and  the  dens 

^  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall,  chap.  Ixxi. 


128     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

below,  from  which,  when  the  grating  was  withdrawn, 
the  wild  beasts  could  bound  into  the  arena,  to  meet 
their  expecting  foe.  As  you  wind  up  the  ruined 
stairs,  the  copsewood  overshadows  you,  and  it  is  nec- 
essary to  put  aside  the  wild  olive,  the  myrtle,  and  the 
fig-tree,  when  you  thread  your  way  through  the  laby- 
rinths. The  gray  lichens,  the  variegated  moss,  and 
the  wild  flowers  so  countless  in  this  climate,  form 
a  carpet  beneath  your  feet,  or  hang  in  rich  festoons 
and  drapery  over  the  ruins.  The  richest  depth  of 
coloring  seems  to  pervade  the  whole ;  the  sun  of 
many  ages  has  tinged  every  arch  and  frieze  ;  and  we 
have  the  dark  stains  on  the  mouldering  ruins  con- 
trasted with  the  bright  hues  of  the  living  vegeta- 
tion. Shelley  says  he  can  scarcely  believe,  that  when 
incrusted  with  Dorian  marble  and  ornamented  by 
columns  of  Egyptian  granite,  its  effect  could  have 
been  so  sublime  and  impressive  as  in  its  present 
state. 

And  yet,  massive  as  these  remains  are,  they  consti- 
tute but  a  small  portion  of  the  original  structure.  It 
was  —  as  we  have  stated  in  a  former  chapter — utterly 
ruined  by  Robert  Guiscard  in  the  twelfth  century. 
Having  been  stormed  and  taken,  a  portion  of  its  walls 
was  hopelessly  shattered.  Then  for  several  hundred 
years  it  was  used  as  a  kind  of  quarry  by  the  Ro- 
mans. In  the  fourteenth  century  Urban  V.  offered 
the  stones  for  sale,  but  found  no  purchaser  except  the 
Frangipani,  who  wished  to  use  them  for  building  their 
palace.  Finally,  the  contending  families  agreed  to 
leave  them  as  common  property,  and  in  this  way,  the 
Famese  and  many  other  palaces  were  erected  from 
the  materials.     Yet  shorn  of  its  glory  and  ruined  as 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.  129 

we  now  see  it,  enough  still  remains  to  excite  the  won- 
der  of  the  world. 

•    .    .    .    "  From  its  mass 
Walls,  palaces,  half-cities,  have  been  rear'd : 
Yet  oft  the  enormous  skeleton  ye  pass, 
And  marvel  where  the  spoil  could  have  appear'd. 
Hath  it  indeed  been  plunder'd,  or  but  clear'd?  " 

The  wide  arena  is  now  covered  with  grass  like  a 
lawn,  piercing  the  chasms  of  the  broken  arches,  and 
thus  extending  far  under  the  ruins.  A  few  years  ago 
a  subterranean  passage  was  discovered,  communicat- 
ing with  the  palace  on  the  Palatine,  within  which  it  is 
probable  that  Commodus  was  attacked  by  the  con- 
spirators. Gibbon  says  "  he  was  returning  to  his  pal- 
ace through  a  dark  and  narrow  portico  in  the  amphi- 
theatre." Near  at  hand  is  the  ruined  Meta  Sudans, 
the  fountain  at  which  the  gladiators  refreshed  them- 
selves after  the  toil  and  heat  of  their  conflicts. 

Although  the  closing  of  this  amphitheatre  was  one 
of  the  noblest  and  most  difficult  triumphs  of  Chris- 
tianity, yet  as  we  stand  within  it  we  have  sorrowful 
evidence,  how  much  the  spirit  of  that  faith  has 
changed  since  martyrs  shed  their  blood  upon  this 
spot.  A  cross  has  indeed  been  erected  in  the  centre, 
yet  on  it  is  an  inscription,  promising  two  hundred 
days'  indulgence  for  each  kiss  which  it  receives : 
"  Bacciando  la  S.  croce  si  acquistano  duecento  giorni 
di  indulgenza."  Around  the  inclosure  are  fourteen 
Stations,  that  is,  small  shrines,  each  of  which  has 
painted  above  it  some  event  which  happened  to  our 
Lord  on  his  way  to  the  Cross,  and  the  devout  stop 
at  these  in  succession  to  offer  their  prayers.  We 
could  see  them  at  all  times  going  their  rounds,  and 
then  ending  with  a  kiss  to  the  Cross  in  the  centre. 


130    THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

On  one  side  is  also  a  rude  pulpit,  from  which  a  Capu- 
chin was  accustomed  at  times  to  preach.  This  service 
cannot  be  otherwise  than  impressive  to  a  thoughtful 
mind,  even  while  having  no  sympathies  with  the  the- 
ology on  which  the  sermon  is  based.  The  poor  monk 
was  generally  no  orator,  yet  it  was  a  strange  contrast 
to  hear  his  earnest  appeals  echo  through  these  old  por- 
ticoes, and  the  doctrines  of  our  common  faith  an- 
nounced on  that  spot  which  once  resounded  only  with 
the  noise  of  the  death-struggle,  the  roaring  of  wild 
beasts,  and  the  gladiators'  strife. 

It  is  pleasant  to  visit  these  old  ruins  at  different 
times  through  the  day  and  night,  to  mark  the  effect 
produced  by  the  change  of  lights  and  shadows.  In 
the  purple  and  golden  hue  of  evening  there  is  a  mel- 
low radiance  diffused  over  them,  which  reminds  us  of 
the  glowing  pictures  of  Claude.  The  fading  light 
softens  down  the  desolation,  and  adds  to  their  beauty 
without  subtracting  aught  from  their  imposing  char- 
acter. Like  Melrose  Abbey,  however,  he  who  "  would 
view  them  aright,"  must  "visit  them  by  the  pale 
moonlight."  This  rule,  indeed,  Madame  de  Stael  ap- 
plies to  all  the  remains  of  antiquity  in  this  land.  "  The 
sun  of  Italy,"  she  says,  "  should  shine  on  festivals  :  but 
the  moon  is  the  light  for  ruins." 

The  second  time  we  stood  within  these  crumbling 
walls,  it  was  late  at  night.  Fortunately  we  came  too 
early,  and  therefore  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the 
effect  produced  as  the  broad  deep  shadow  whicli  the 
giant  building  cast,  w^as  gradually  retreating  before 
the  light.  When  we  arrived,  the  moon  was  just  high 
enough  to  silver  one  edge  of  the  ruin,  while  the  rest 
was  left  in  darkness.     All  was  silent  around,  except 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.   131 

the  step  of  the  solitary  sentinel  who  was  pacing  the 
arena,  and  the  murmur  which  arose  at  times  from  the 
neighboring  city.  And  there  we  waited,  as  the 
Queen  of  Night  —  so  glorious  in  the  clearness  of  an 
Italian  sky  —  gradually  mounted  up,  and  tinged  row 
after  row  of  the  terraces  on  which  once  the  spectators 
sat,  the  contrast  of  her  silvery  hues  and  the  deep 
shadows  of  the  vaults  beneath,  producing  an  effect  of 
which  no  idea  can  be  conveyed  in  the  cold  language 
of  prose.  The  dark  trees  waving  above  the  broken 
arches  stood  out  in  bolder  relief,  and  the  rents  in  the 
shattered  battlements  became  more  apparent  as  the 
light  streamed  through  them.  There  is,  however,  but 
one  description  which  has  ever  done  justice  to  the 
grandeur  of  this  scene.  It  is  that  which  Lord  B}Ton 
has  given  in  his  "  Manfred,"  where  every  allusion,  and 
every  single  line  indeed  presents  so  vivid  a  picture  to 
one  who  has  been  there  in  "  the  witching  hour  of 
night,"  that,  long  as  the  quotation  is,  this  little  sketch 
would  be  incomplete  without  it. 

"  I  do  remember  me,  that  in  my  youth, 
When  I  was  wandering — upon  such  a  night 
I  stood  within  the  Coliseum's  wall, 
'Midst  the  chief  relics  of  almighty  Rome; 
The  trees  which  grew  along  the  broken  arches 
Waved  dark  in  the  blue  midnight,  and  the  stars 
Shone  through  the  rents  of  ruin  ;  from  afar 
The  watch-dog  bay'd  beyond  the  Tiber;  and 
More  near  from  out  the  Ca?sars'  palace  came 
The  owl's  long  cry,  and,  interruptedly. 
Of  distant  sentinels  the  fitful  song 
Begun  and  died  upon  the  gentle  wind. 
Some  cypresses  beyond  the  time-worn  breach 
Appear'd  to  skirt  the  horizon,  yet  they  stood 
Within  a  bowshot.    Where  the  C«sars  dwelt, 
And  dwell  the  tuneless  birds  of  night,  amidst 
A  grove  which  springs  through  level'd  battlements,   . 


132   THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLY  DAYS  IN  ROME, 

And  twines  its  roots  with  the  Imperial  hearths, 

Ivy  usurps  the  laurel's  place  of  growth; 

But  the  gladiators'  bloody  circus  stands, 

A  noble  wreck  in  ruinous  perfection ! 

While  Caesar's  chambers,  and  the  Augustan  halls, 

Grovel  on  earth  in  indistinct  decay. 

And  thou  didst  shine,  thou  rolling  moon,  upon 

All  this,  and  cast  a  wide  and  tender  light. 

Which  soften'd  down  the  hoar  austerity 

Of  rugged  desolation,  and  fill'd  up, 

As  'twere  anew,  the  gaps  of  centuries; 

Leaving  that  beautiful  which  still  was  so, 

And  making  that  which  was  not,  till  the  place 

Became  religion,  and  the  heart  ran  o'er 

With  silent  worship  of  the  great  of  old ! 

The  dead,  but  sceptred  sovereigns,  who  still  rule 

Our  spirits  from  their  urns."  .... 

The  Palace  of  the  Caesars,  allusions  to  which  By- 
ron has  thus  mingled  with  his  description  of  the  Co- 
liseum, stands  not  far  distant.  It  is  a  mass  of  ruins  — 
a  mile  and  a  half  in  circuit  —  covering;  the  whole  of 
the  Palatine  Hill.  Here,  century  after  century,  the 
Roman  Emperors  lavished  the  wealth  of  a  tributary 
world  to  increase  the  magnificence  of  their  dwelling- 
place,  until  at  last  Nero  surpassed  them  all  by  his 
Aurea^  or  Golden  House.  With  our  modern  habits  of 
estimating,  we  can  form  but  little  conception  of  its 
splendor.  Suetonius  says,  —  "  To  give  an  idea  of  the 
extent  and  magnificence  of  this  edifice,  it  is  sufficient 
to  mention,  that  in  its  vestibule  was  placed  a  colossal 
statue  of  Nero  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  height. 
It  had  a  triple  portico,  supported  by  a  thousand  col- 
umns, with  a  lake,  like  a  little  sea,  surrounded  by  build- 
ings which  resembled  cities.  It  contained  fields,  vine- 
yards, pasture-ground,  and  groves,  in  which  were  all 
descriptions  of  animals,  both  wild  and  tame.  Its  inte- 
rior shone  with  gold,  gems,  and  mother-of-pearl.     In 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    133 

the  vaulted  roofs  of  the  dining-rooms  were  machines 
of  ivory,  which  turned  round,  and  from  pipes  scat- 
tered flowers  and  perfumes  on  the  guests.  The  prin- 
cipal banqueting  hall  was  a  rotunda,  so  constructed 
that  it  revolved  night  and  day,  in  imitation  of  the  mo- 
tion of  the  earth.  The  baths  were  supplied  from  the 
sea,  and  the  sulphurous  waters  of  Albuloe.  When 
Nero,  after  dedicating  this  fairy  palace,  took  up  his 
abode  there,  his  only  observation  was,  — '  Now  I  shall 
befjiu  to  live  like  a  man.'  '' 

And  what  remains  of  all  this  splendor?  Nothing 
but  shapeless  ruins.  The  battlements  are  leveled; 
the  trees  twine  their  roots  through  the  marble  floors 
on  which  once  the  Caesars  trod,  and  the  whispering 
reeds,  the  tall  grass,  and  the  rank  herbage  wave  in 
neglected  luxuriance  over  the  vanished  pomp  of  the 
Masters  of  the  world.  We  wandered  'over  the  Hill, 
and  among  the  fallen  columns,  listening  to  the  ques- 
tionable representations  of  our  guide,  as  he  showed  in 
one  place  the  ruins  of  a  theatre,  and  in  another  gave 
some  shattered  arches  the  name  of  a  temple.  The  only 
well  defined  remains  are  those  of  the  Baths  of  Livia. 
Tapers  were  lighted,  and  we  descended  into  them,  for 
they  are  now  completely  covered  by  the  ruins  and  the 
accumulated  earth  above.  Yet  within,  the  frescoes 
and  gilding  are  in  some  places  as  plain  and  fresh  as 
ever,  and  beneath  the  dark  arches  are  the  mosaic  floors, 
which  once  displayed  a  beauty  fit  for  the  Imperial  fam- 
ily of  Rome.  Among  these  crumbling  walls  and  pros- 
trate pillars,  the  husbandmen  now  cultivate  their  gar- 
dens, and  the  bell  sounds  mournfully  from  the  Monas- 
tery of  Capuchin  monks  which  has  been  erected  on 
one  portion  of  the  Hill.     A  few  tall  palm-trees  alone 


134     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

are  seen  within  their  grounds,  for  their  rigorous  disci- 
pline seems  to  war  with  the  beauty  of  nature,  and  the 
reh'gious  house  of  Bonaventure  is  an  exception  to  the 
Itahan  maxim,  — 

"  Dove  abitano  i  fratri,  e  grassa  la  terra." 

Treasures  of  art,  however,  must  still  be  concealed 
beneath  all  this  rubbish,  for  it  has  raised  the  surface 
of  the  ground  more  than  thirty  feet  above  its  former 
level.  As  late  as  the  year  1720,  by  accident  a  mag- 
nificent hall  was  here  discovered  two  hundred  feet  in 
length,  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  in  breadth,  richly 
ornamented  with  statues,  columns  of  giallo  antico,  and 
other  precious  marbles.  Yet  now  this  mass  of  crum- 
bling desolation  is  a  scene  of  confusion  on  which  the 
antiquarian  speculates  in  vain. 

"  Cypress  and  ivy,  weed  and  wall-flower  grown 
Matted  and  mass'd  together,  hillocks  heap'd 
On  what  were  chambers,  arch  crush'd,  columns  strown 
In  fragments,  choked-up  vaults,  and  frescoes  steep'd 
In  subterranean  damps,  where  the  owl  peep'd, 
Deeming  it  midnight:  —  temples,  baths,  or  halls? 
Pronounce  who  can ;  for  all  that  learning  reap'd 
From  her  research  hath  been,  that  these  are  walls  — 
Behold  the  Imperial  Mount!  'tis  thus  the  mighty  falls," 

Among  the  ruins  of  Rome  those  of  her  Baths  occupy 
a  prominent  ])lace.  A  writer  on  antiquities  thus  de- 
scribes them  as  they  appeared  in  the  days  of  their 
glory :  "  They  were  open  every  day  to  both  sexes. 
In  each  of  the  great  Batlis  there  were  sixteen  hundred 
seats  of  marble,  for  the  convenience  of  the  bathers, 
and  three  thousand  two  hundred  persons  could  bathe 
at  the  same  time.  There  were  splendid  porticoes  in 
front  for  promenade,  arcades  with  shops,  in  which  was 
found  every  kind  of  luxury  for  the  bath,  and  halls  for 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    135 

corporeal  exercises  and  for  the  discussions  of  philoso- 
pliy;  and  here  the  poets  read  their  productions,  and 
rhetoricians  harangued,  and  sculptors  and  painters  ex- 
hibited their  works  to  the  public.  The  baths  were 
distributed  into  grand  halls,  with  ceilings  enormously 
high,  and  painted  with  admirable  frescoes,  supported 
on  columns  of  the  rarest  marbles,  and  the  basms  were 
of  oriental  alabaster,  porphyry,  and  jasper.  There 
were  in  the  centre,  vast  reservoirs  for  the  swimmers, 
and  crowds  of  slaves  to  attend  gi-atuitously  upon  all 
who  should  come."  These  Baths  were  either  entirely 
free,  or  at  the  utmost,  the  price  of  admission  was  a 
quadra7it,  the  smallest  piece  of  money  coined,  which 
was  given  to  the  keeper.  Under  the  Emperors  it  was 
their  policy  to  do  eveiything  for  tlie  amuseniejit  of 
the  people,  and  when  not  only  the  necessaries  of  life, 
but  also  every  luxury,  was  provided  for  them,  and 
shows,  races,  and  combats  helped  the  dissolute  popula- 
tion to  while  away  the  hours  of  the  day,  these  magnifi- 
cent structures  also  were  erected  to  minister  to  their 
pleasures.  Bathing  was  indeed  an  elaborate  business 
with  the  Romans.  They  passed  tlirough  a  course  of 
baths  in  succession,  where  the  agency  of  air  as  well  as 
water  was  applied.  These  were  of  diiferent  tempera- 
tures, hot  and  cold  water  being  furnished  in  profusion, 
while  between  them  they  took  gentle  exercise,  were 
anointed  with  oil  in  the  sun,  or  in  the  tepid  or  thermal 
chamber,  or  took  their  food.  And  this  process  was 
often  repeated.  Many,  we  learn,  bathed  seven  or 
eight  times  in  the  course  of  the  day. 

There  are  but  few  customs  of  the  almost  forgotten 
civilization  of  ancient  Rome,  of  which  we  cannot,  from 
some  source,  recover  an   accurate  account.     It  is  so 


136     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

with  their  masnificent  Thermce,  Those  which  remain 
are  indeed  in  ruins,  but  on  the  walls  of  that  of  Titus 
was  found  a  fresco,  containing  a  view  of  one  according 
to  the  perfect  arrangements  of  that  day.  Six  chambers 
are  exhibited  to  us  in  this  painting,  and  we  see  the 
burning  furnaces  which  heated  the  apartments,  and  in 
each  the  individuals  going  through  the  process  of  this 
much-prized  luxury.  But  more  satisfactory  still  is  a 
discovery  made  at  Pompeii,  where  an  entire  establish- 
ment was  disinterred  ;  and  thus,  in  this  miniature  city  of 
Roman  splendor,  we  can  survey  these  apartments,  just 
as  they  were  when,  seventeen  centuries  ago,  the  last 
bathers  left  them.  In  a  day  which  we  spent  rambling 
around  this  silent  city  of  the  dead,  we  found  at  noon 
that  our  guides  had  arranged  the  dinner  for  our  party 
in  this  Hall  of  tlie  Bath,  and  there  we  passed  an  hour, 
with  around  us  the  dusty  fountains,  the  bronze  pipes, 
and  the  seats  for  the  bathers  ;  while  directly  before  us 
was  the  marble  reservoir,  with  the  maker's  name 
carved  on  it,  and  the  price  paid  him  for  his  work. 
Such  an  hour  enables  us  to  travel  back  over  the  gulf 
of  forgotten  centuries  ;  and  when,  in  addition,  we  see 
the  instruments  of  this  old  luxury,  —  the  very  strigils 
wdiich  the  slaves  dropped  as  they  fled,  —  we  feel  able, 
in  imagination,  to  build  up  once  more  the  ruins  of 
Rome's  voluptuous  baths,  to  wake  to  a  second  existence 
the  gay  crowds  which  thronged  their  porticoes,  and  to 
behold  them  as  crowned  with  garlands,  they  listened  to 
the  music  of  the  cithara,  or  discussed  the  breathing 
wonders  of  Grecian  statuary  which  lined  these  halls. 

We  have  already  described  the  Baths  of  Caracalla. 
Those  of  Diocletian,  on  the  Viminal,  are  very  similar, 
and    consecrated    by   the    tradition    that    they   were 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    137 

erected  by  the  labor  of  forty  thousand  Christians. 
They  cover  an  area  of  more  than  a  mile  in  circuit,  yet 
are  now  in  ruins,  with  the  exception  of  the  Pina- 
cotheca,  or  grand  central  hall.  This  —  the  most  noble 
saloon  of  ancient  Rome,  which  has  come  down  to  us 
uninjured  from  ancient  times  —  was  preserved  by  being 
early  converted  into  a  Cliristian  church.  For  this  we 
must  thank  the  legend  which  connected  its  history  with 
that  of  the  martyrs.  It  was  remodeled  by  Michael 
Ano-elo  as  we  now  see  it — the  Church  of  Santa  Maria 
degli  Angeli.  Above,  in  the  lofty  vaulted  roof,  are  the 
metallic  rings  from  which  the  ancient  lamps  were  sus- 
pended, and  the  eight  massive  columns  of  oriental 
granite  standing  around,  are  still  in  their  original 
positions. 

From  these  Baths  but  a  short  distance  separated  us 
from  those  of  Titus  on  the  Esquiline.  Our  course  was 
through  a  street  corresponding  with  the  ancient  Vicus 
Sceleratus,  infamous  in  Roman  history  as  the  scene  of 
the  impiety  of  Tullia,  who  there  drove  her  car  over  the 
dead  body  of  her  father,  Servius  Tullius,  after  he  had 
been  assassinated  by  her  husband,  Tarquin.  At  length, 
we  reached  a  vineyard,  at  the  end  of  which  is  the  en- 
trance to  the  Baths.  Before  us  stood  a  row  of  dark 
arches  in  picturesque  ruin,  under  which  we  passed, 
and  with  our  guide  commenced  the  descent.  Here 
once  stood  the  Villa  of  Mascenas,  a  portion  of  which 
was  incorporated  into  this  edifice.  The  work  of  exca- 
vation is  slowly  going  on,  and  future  years  will  prob- 
ably bring  to  light  many  precious  remnants  of  antique 
art.  In  one  of  these  halls  the  group  of  the  Laocoon 
was  found  —  a  mere  specimen,  indeed,  of  those  ex- 
quisite works,  lifeless  but  lifelike,  whicli  classic  Greece 


138     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

surrendered  to  her  conquerors,  and  with  which  they 
filled  every  public  building. 

It  is  strange  how  admirably  parts  of  these  chambers 
have  been  preserved,  and  now  that  the  earth  is  re- 
moved, we  see  them  as  they  were  seventeen  centuries 
ago.  Beneath  the  rubbish  is  often  disclosed  a  pave- 
ment of  mosaic,  inlaid  with  the  richest  marbles,  so  that 
even  Apuleius  might  here  have  realized  what  he  con- 
sidered the  height  of  human  felicity,  — 

"  Vehem  enter  iterum  ac  saepius  beatos  illos  qui 
Super  gemmas  et  monilia  calcant!  " 

Above  us  was  the  arched  ceiling,  thirty  feet  high, 
covered  with  frescoes,  and  as  our  guide  elevated  his 
light  on  the  end  of  a  long  pole,  we  saw  the  beautiful 
arabesque  decorations  so  remarkable  for  their  graceful 
outlines.  Birds,  and  animals,  serpents,  fawns,  and 
satyrs,  are  painted  there,  and  the  colors  are  often  un- 
changed from  their  early  freshness,  some  indeed  pos- 
sessing a  beauty  of  tint  in  the  rich,  deep  crimson,  which 
modern  art  finds  it  difiicult  to  imitate.  Raphael 
deemed  these  drawings  well  worthy  of  his  study,  and 
copied  and  reproduced  them  on  the  walls  of  the  Vati- 
can. Festoons  of  flowers  and  rich  tracery  compose  the 
borders,  while  here  and  there  naked  figures  sport,  and 
disclose  that  spirit  of  voluptuousness  which  was  the 
characteristic  of  Rome  when  these  halls  were  built. 
In  the  works  of  the  Empire  we  read  everywhere  the 
proof,  that  her  Patricians  had  degenerated  into  Syba- 
rites, seeking  only  to  refine  vice,  and  pass  'their  days  in 
one  unbroken  dream  of  pleasure. 

But  what  a  scene  must  Rome  have  presented  in  the 
years  which   preceded   her   downfall,  when   she  had 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLY  DAYS  IN  ROME.    139 

gathered  on  these  Seven  Hills  all  that  could  be  rifled 
from  a  conquered  world  !  If  her  sons  had  lost  the  aus- 
terity of  the  Iron  Age,  the  change  had  also  fitted  them 
with  deeper  devotion  to  cultivate  a  taste  for  the  beauti- 
ful in  Art.  While  they  received  from  the  Plains  of  the 
Ilissus,  those  graceful  fables  which  consecrated  every 
spot,  —  giving  to  the  waters  their  Nymph,  and  to  the 
mountain  its  Oread,  —  the  faith  brought  with  it  also 
something  of  that  spirit  of  poetry,  whose  true  home 
was  on  the  heights  of  Phyle,  and  among  the  groves  of 
Cithaeron  and  Hymettus.  They  learned  to  admire  the 
creative  power  of  Praxiteles  and  Scopas,  of  Phidias  and 
Myron,  writing  in  sculpture,  on  the  frieze  of  each  shrine 
and  temple,  the  radiant  legends  of  their  old  Mythology, 
or  producing  from  the  lucid  marble  of  Pentelicus  the 
transcendent  forms  of  the  gods  they  woi-shipped.  These 
then  became  the  treasures  which  wealth  sought  to  col- 
lect,  until  at  last  one  city  contained  the  spoils  of  genius 
for  a  thousand  years.  How  sad  the  change  which  has 
swept  away  these  miracles  of  art !  Even  the  peasant 
of  the  Campagna,  degraded  as  he  seems  to  be,  realizes 
the  fall  of  this  Mistress  of  the  world,  and  as  he  labors 
among  her  mouldering  ruins,  you  may  he*v»  the  words 
of  his  melancholy  song,  — 

"  Roma !  Roma !  Roma ! 
Non  e  piu  come  era  prima!  • 


CHAPTER  XII. 

DRAMATIC    CHARACTER    OF     THE     CHURCH     SERVICES.  — ' 

SERMON      BY      A     VICAR-GENERAL. THE      CAPUCHIN 

CEMETERY. 

HE  great  trait  of  the  Churcli  services  in 
Italy  is  their  dramatic  character.  There 
seems  to  be  a  tendency  to  express  every- 
thing by  sensible  images,  and  the  evil  is, 
that  men  may  forget  the  distinction  between  the  sign 
and  the  thing  signified.  Expiring  Paganism  in  its 
dying  struggles  threw  its  mantle  over  its  conqueror, 
and  then  began  the  imitation  of  heathen  rites.  The 
lustral  water,  the  incense,  and  the  processions  of  the 
antique  faith  of  Greece,  were  too  faithfully  copied  in 
the  holy  water,  the  censer,  and  the  sacred  proces- 
sions of  the  Christian  Church. 

The  Middle  Ages  increased  the  difficulty,  from  the 
mistaken  zeal  and  perverted  taste  which  then  existed 
within  the  Church.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  study 
of  her  friends,  to  invent  new  offices  ;  to  add  to  the 
ceremonies  of  the  ritual ;  to  render  the  pomp  of  her 
outward  adorning  more  magnificent ;  and  the  dresses 
of  her  clergy  more  dazzling.  While  doctrines  were 
gradually  changing,  the  exterior  of  religion  was  also 
fast  losing  the  simplicity  of  ancient  times,  until  it  be- 
came incumbered  with  the  accumulated  inventions  of 
centuries. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    141 

Passion  Week  gives  ample  scope  for  tlie  develop- 
ment of  this  dramatic  taste.  In  many  of  the  churches, 
the  Gospel  which  contains  an  account  of  our  Lord's 
trial,  is  read  by  different  priests,  who  distribute  among 
themselves  the  various  parts  of  the  dialogue.  In  some 
of  the  little  country  towns,  the  old  miracle-plays  —  or 
representations  of  different  Scripture  scenes  by  actors 
—  are  still  performed.  We  spent  this  week  in  Vienna, 
and  were  able  as  it  passed,  to  see  each  step  of  the 
Crucifixion  regularly  represented.  On  the  arrival  of 
this  season,  the  altars  in  the  churches  were  stripped 
of  their  flowers,  embroidered  cloths,  and  ornaments, 
and  all  things  wore  an  appearance  of  desolation.  On 
Good  Friday,  the  body  of  our  Lord,  as  large  as  life, 
was  suspended  on  the  Cross  in  the  different  chapels, 
which  were  generally,  to  increase  the  effect,  lighted 
only  to  a  twilight  gloom,  while  crowds  of  worshippers 
were  kneeling  before  these  images. 

At  night  it  was  taken  down,  and  laid  out  like  a 
corpse  before  the  altar,  covered  with  a  pall,  where  it 
remained  tmtil  Easter  Even  was  over.  I  do  not  re- 
member a  more  striking  scene  than  the  Cathedral  of 
St.  Stephen  presented  on  that  occasion.  It  was  a 
brilHant  moonlight  night  when  we  approached  it. 
How  magnificent  it  looked  when  seen  at  this  time, 
part  flooded  with  brightness  and  part  in  the  deep 
shadow,  the  rents  and  corroding  inroads  of  time  con- 
cealed and  its  fi-etted  pinnacles  and  delicate  tracery- 
thrown  out  in  bold  relief  against  the  clear  sky !  Its 
*'  long  drawn  aisles  "  seemed  to  have  doubled  in  length, 
and  its  lofty  arches  and  massive  columns  were  even 
more  imposing  than  in  the  glare  of  day.  Through  the 
vast  building  there  was  only  a  feeble  lamp  here  and 


142     rilE   CHRISTMAS   HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

there,  just  sufficient  to  show  its  extent,  except  a  dis- 
tant chapel  which  was  brilliantly  lighted  up.  There 
seemed  to  be  every  possible  variety.  One  chapel  had 
been  left  in  perfect  darkness,  and  as  we  passed  it, 
the  moon  broke  forth  from  the  clouds,  and  poured  its 
rays  through  the  tall  Gothic  window,  lighting  up  the 
beautiful  shrines,  and  spreading  a  ghastly  hue  over 
the  figures  on  the  monuments.  Another  had  a  single 
glimmering  light  at  the  far  end,  appearing  like  a  dis- 
tant star.  And  all  around  were  worshippers  kneeling : 
some  in  the  faint  light  of  the  nave,  and  others  just 
visible  in  the  deep  gloom  of  the  arches.  Here  they 
watched  in  prayer  through  all  hours  of  the  night. 
Everything  seemed  to  be  skillfully  arranged  to  pro- 
duce its  eifect  on  the  imamnation  and  the  senses. 

On  Easter  Even  there  is  a  splendid  procession  of 
the  Austrian  Court  from  one  chapel  to  another,  carry- 
ing the  Host  to  represent  the  body  of  our  Lord. 
When  Easter  morning  dawns,  the  whole  scene  is 
again  changed.  The  gayest  ornaments  deck  the 
churches,  and  the  most  cheerful  music  is  heard  in  the 
services. 

In  some  of  the  Italian  churches,  however,  on  Good 
Friday  the  representation  of  the  Crucifixion,  the 
"  Agonie,"  or  "  Tre  Ore,"  forms  a  perfect  drama. 
Dr.  Wiseman  speaks  of  some  of  these  services  as  be- 
ing "  worthy  of  ancient  Tragedy."  An  artificial 
mount  —  in  imitation  of  Mount  Calvary  —  is  formed 
as  in  a  theatre,  with  pasteboard  rocks  and  thickets, 
and  painted  trees.  On  the  declivity  are  seen  the 
Roman  soldiers  in  armor,  some  mounted  on  pasteboard 
horses,  while  on  a  more  elevated  spot  are  the  three 
crosses,  to  which  are  nailed  the  figures  of  our  Lord 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS   IN  ROME.    148 

and  the  two  malefactors,  all  arranged  so  as  to  produce 
the  best  stage  effect.  At  the  time  of  the  Crucifixion 
a  sermon  of  three  hours  in  lengtli  is  delivered,  the 
different  topics  of  which  are  taken  from  the  exclama- 
tions of  our  Lord  upon  the  Cross.  At  last,  when  the 
priest  comes  to  His  dying  cry  —  "  It  is  finished"  —  he 
suddenly  exclaims,  — "  The  moment  has  arrived  —  the 
Saviour  now  expires  "  —  and  all  instantly  sink  upon 
their  knees.  For  a  time  there  is  an  awful  silence, 
while  they  are  absorbed  in  prayer,  until  the  priest 
again  exclaims,  —  "  They  come,  the  holy  men  to  bear 
the  body  of  our  Redeemer  to  the  sepulchre  ;  "  and 
forthwith,  from  the  side  scenes  issue  a  band  of  friars, 
clad  in  black,  who  toil  up  the  ascent  of  Mount  Cal- 
vary, and  take  down  the  body,  amidst  the  groans  and 
lamentations  of  the  by-standers.  As  a  preacher  is  al- 
ways selected  of  wild  and  fervid  eloquence,  we  may 
imagine  the  strong  effect  which  must  be  produced, 
particularly  upon  the  ignorant,  by  this  service  per- 
formed in  a  darkened  church,  and  mingled  up  with 
every  stirring  appeal  to  the  feelings. 

The  ordinary  preaching  of  the  Itahans  is  deeply  im- 
passioned in  its  style,  and  I  have  sometimes  listened  to 
Dominicans,  whose  bold  declamation  and  earnest  ges- 
tures as  they  leaned  over  the  pulpit,  reminded  me  of 
Peter  the  Hermit  rousing  up  his  audience  to  the  Cru- 
sade. They  deal  much  in  apostrophe,  and  you  fre- 
quently hear  them  turn  aside  with  the  address,  —  "  O 
Italy !  "  "  O  my  country  !  "  There  was  one  sei-mon 
we  heard  —  very  different  it  is  true  in  its  character 
and  style  —  of  which  I  took  notes,  because  it  is  a  fair 
specimen  of  the  kind  of  argument  used,  and  because 
the  preacher  had  just  been  appointed  to  a  high  office 
in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  America. 


144     THE   CHRISTMAS  IIOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

Having   seen  in  the  "  Diario   di  Roma,"  that  Dr. 
,  Vicar-General  of ,  in  the  United  States  of 


America,  was  to  preach  in  the  Church  of  S.  Andrea 
della  Valle,  we  went  with  a  party  of  friends,  for  the 
purpose  of  learning  what  kind  of  a  man  was  to  be  sent 
out  to  enlighten  our  countrymen,  and  by  listening  to 
a  sermon  nearly  one  hour  in  length,  had  a  very  fair 
opportunity  of  forming  an  opinion.  We  found  tlie 
Doctor  to  be  rather  a  fine  looking  man,  about  forty-five 
years  of  age,  and  of  a  graceful  delivery,  although  not 
very  fluent  in  his  style  of  speaking. 

His  text  was  John  xv.  26,  27 :  "  But  when  the 
Comforter  is  come,  whom  I  will  send  unto  you  from 
the  Father,  even  the  Spirit  of  truth,  which  proceedeth 
from  the  Father,  he  shall  testify  of  me :  and  ye  also 
shall  bear  witness,  because  ye  have  been  with  me  from 
the  beginning." 

The  first  part  of  the  sermon  was  commonplace 
enough,  merely  a  discussion  of  the  question.  Were  the 
Apostles  credible  witnesses  ?  This  being  finished,  we 
reached  tlie  grand  plunge  —  the  great  no7i  sequitur^  on 
which  all  the  rest  was  founded.  "  Having  thus  proved 
the  truth  of  religion,  I  have  in  the  same  way  demon- 
strated the  truth  of  the  Catholic  Church,"  —  mean- 
ing of  course,  the  Roman  Church.  Here  was  the 
fallacy  which  ran  through  the  whole  discourse.  The 
object  evidently  was  to  produce  a  confusion  in  the 
minds  of  his  hearers,  which  would  lead  them  to  look 
upon  the  Catholic  Church,  and  the  Church  of  Rome, 
as  synonymous  terms,  and  the  latter  as  the  only  devel- 
opment of  religion  in  the  world.  This  Church,  he 
said,  had  always  been  a  witness  for  the  truth,  never 
attempting  to  create  anything  new,  but  only  to  testify 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    145 

to  what  was  primitive.  And  of  this  he  would  give  two 
instances. 

The  first  was,  when  the  Council  of  Nice  (a.  d.  325) 
expressed  the  voice  of  the  whole  Church  in  opposition 
to  Arius,  "  who  taught,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  that  our 
Lord  was  nothing  more  than  a  mere  man."  This,  by 
the  way,  was  a  mistake  in  ecclesiastical  history,  thus  to 
impute  to  Arius  what  no  one  ever  pretended  he  held, 
and  what  was  only  avowed  by  the  lowest  Humanita- 
rians of  a  later  day. 

The  second  instance  was  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
when  Luther  had  begun  his  heresy,  and  a  Creneral 
Council  of  the  whole  Christian  world  assembled  at 
Trent,  and  there  recorded  the  condemnation  of  the 
Cliurch  against  his  views. 

This  was  the  Doctor's  ingenious  parallel;  making 
the  Council  of  Trent  as  much  the  voice  of  the  whole 
Church  as  the  Council  of  Nice,  and  its  decrees  as 
weighty  and  binding.  Protestantism  Avas  then  held 
up  to  scorn,  as  being  the  creed  of  a  most  miserable, 
contemptible  minority,  and  the  audience  were  assured, 
that  the  Church  of  Rome  had  all  the  testimony  of  an- 
tiquity,—  to  give  you  his  language,  —  "looking  back 
through  a  long  chain  of  witnesses  to  the  Apostles'  days, 
without  the  least  change  or  shadow  of  variation  in  opin- 
ion^ not  a  single  link  being  wanting,"  etc.  Then  fol- 
lowed a  tirade  against  private  judgment,  and  his  hear- 
ers were  left  to  suppose,  that  none  who  dissented  from 
the  Church  of  Rome  had  any  rule  of  faith  but  their 
own  unsettled  opinions,  while  the  unity  of  his  own 
Church  furnished  a  theme  for  lofty  eulogium.  The 
effect  of  Protestantism,  he  said,  was  shown  in  all  the 
excesses  from  Johanna  Southcote  to  Mormonism,  while 

10 


146     THE  CHRISTMAS  H0L7DAYS  IN  ROME. 

it  was  absolutely  impossible  that  the  weed  of  fanaticism 
could  never  take  root  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  He 
talked,  indeed,  about  their  unity  with  as  much  assur- 
ance, as  if  the  Port  Royalists  had  never  existed ;  the 
Jesuits  and  Jansenists  were  sworn  brethren  ;  and  the 
Pope  did  not  have  occasion,  every  little  while,  to  pro- 
scribe some  new  sect  which  springs  up  within  their 
bounds. 

Then  came  a  passage  on  the  security  of  their  faith. 
"  Hundreds  of  Protestants,  at  their  last  hour,  had 
wished  to  be  reconciled  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  while 
there  never  was  —  there  never  had  been  —  a  single 
Catholic  who  at  that  time  wished  a  different  faith." 
It  would  be  difficult,  indeed,  for  me  to  give,  in  this 
brief  space,  any  idea  of  the  ingenious  evasions  of  the 
Vicar-General ;  the  shrewd  and  cunning  manner  in 
which  he  left  his  audience  to  infer  things  which  he  did 
not  dare  boldly  to  say,  and  the  false  impressions  he  con- 
veyed by  only  half  stating  a  fact.  Not  a  single  refer- 
ence was  made  to  the  Church  of  England,  or  a  hint 
given  of  its  existence  ;  but  his  hearers  were  left  to  be- 
lieve that  the  only  dissent  from  Rome  was  what  was 
witnessed  in  the  loose,  floating  sects  of  the  Continent. 

He  concluded  by  stating,  that  a  collection  would  be 
made  in  aid  of  the  missions  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
and  some  of  the  hooded  friars,  with  their  faces  entirely 
covered,  and  only  holes  for  their  eyes,  came  forward  to 
receive  it.  The  sermon  had  certainly  not  disposed  us 
to  contribute  to  this  object,  nor  did  surrounding  objects 
remove  the  impression.  Above  the  High  Altar  was  a 
magnificent  silk  canopy,  which  had  been  put  up  at 
Epiphany,  and  under  it  was  what  would  be  called,  had 
it  not  been  in  church,  a  pretty  puppet-show.     It  was  a 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    147 

collection  of  figures,  each  about  two  feet  high.  On  a 
lofty  throne,  raised  several  steps,  sat  the  Virgin  Mary 
with  the  infant  Saviour  in  her  arms,  a  magnificent 
crown  on  the  head  of  each.  By  her  side  stood  Joseph, 
and  before  her  were  "  the  three  wise  men,"  offering 
their  gifts.  They,  too,  were  splendidly  attired,  rather 
in  the  costume  of  the  Middle  Ages :  caps  with  feathers, 
velvet  dresses  with  gold  embroidery,  and  a  page  be- 
hind each,  holding  up  his  train.  Two  of  the  Magi 
were  white,  and  one  black.^  Over  them  hung  an  im- 
mense star,  cut  of  silver  paper,  two  feet  high,  and,  of 
course,  ten  times  larger  than  the  head  of  either  of  the 
wise  men.  And  all  this  was  just  above  the  High 
Altar! 


From  the  sermon  we  went  to  the  Church  of  the 
Capuchins,  adjoining  their  monastery.  It  was  erected 
by  Cardinal  Barberini,  brother  of  Urban  VIII.,  and 
he  is  buried  beneath  the  pavement,  with  the  simple  in- 
scription, — 

"  Hie  jacet  pulvis,  cinis,  et  nihil." 

This  Chapel  boasts  of  one  of  Gudio's  best  works  — 
the  Archangel  Michael  trampling  Lucifer  under  his 
feet.  It  has  been  called  "  The  Catholic  Apollo,"  from 
the  majesty  and  grace  with  which  the  angel  is  clothed. 

1  They  are  called  in  Europe  "  the  three  Kings  of  Cologne,"  and  we  sub- 
sequently, in  the  Cathedral  of  that  city,  saw  what  are  shown  as  their  skulls. 
The  legend  is :  that,  when  the  Emperor  Frederic  Barbarossa  stormed  Milan, 
he  obtained  these  bones,  and  presented  them  to  the  Bishop  of  Cologne,  who 
had  accompanied  his  expedition.  Behind  the  High  Altar  is  a  magnificent 
shrine,  within  which  are  placed  the  coffins  of  silver-gilt,  most  curiously 
wrought.  The  skulls  of  the  three  kings  are  crowned  with  diadems  of  gold, 
studded  with  jewels,  and  inscribed  with  their  names  —  Caspar^  Melchior^ 
and  Balthazar  —  written  in  rubies.  The  treasures  employed  about  the 
shrine  are  estimated  at  more  than  200,000  pounds  sterling. 


148     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

My  object,  however,  was  to  visit  the  cemetery  beneath 
the  Church.  I  found  a  monk  loitering  in  one  of  the 
side  chapels,  as  if  waiting  to  be  cicerone  to  any  visitors, 
and  having  made  known  my  wish,  he  conducted  me 
through  the  cloisters,  and  down  a  flight  of  steps  into 
their  old  burial-place.  Here  are  several  low  chapels, 
in  which  the  monks  are  interred,  the  ground  being 
composed  of  earth  brought  from  Jerusalem.  The 
largest  will  contain  about  thirty  graves,  and  the  others 
a  somewhat  smaller  number.  Against  the  walls  on  all 
sides,  skulls  are  placed  to  the  depth  of  nearly  three 
feet,  and  arranged  in  such  a  way  as  to  form  niches,  as 
if  for  statues.  The  other  bones  of  the  skeletons  are 
around,  and  even  above  on  the  ceiling,  as  if  some  one 
in  mockery  had  been  sporting  with  these  sad  trophies 
of  death.  Legs,  arms,  ribs,  spines,  and  fingers  are 
there,  formed  into  stars  and  diamonds,  wreaths  and 
festoons,  altars  and  chandeliers,  —  every  form,  indeed, 
which  caprice  could  dictate  in  this  strange  charnel- 
house. 

In  each  one  of  4hese  niches  stands  the  skeleton  of  a 
monk,  arrayed  in  his  old  dress.  The  coarse  brown 
serge  is  around  him,  with  the  cowl  drawn  over  the 
fleshless  skull ;  sandals  are  tied  on  the  feet ;  the  cord  is 
about  the  waist ;  the  bones  of  the  hands  are  clasped, 
holding  a  black  cross,  and  dangling  from  them,  also,  a 
card  inscribed  with  his  name  and  the  date  of  his  death. 
Sometimes,  instead  of  upright  niches,  they  are  horizon- 
tal in  shape,  and  the  skeletons  are  reclining  as  if  at 
rest  on  their  beds.  They  are  first  buried  in  the  conse- 
crated earth  below,  the  number  of  graves  in  which  is 
kept  always  filled.  When,  therefore,  a  monk  dies,  he 
is  interred  in  the  oldest  grave,  and  the  skeleton  which 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.  149 

he  displaces  is  arrayed  in  the  monkish  dress,  and  fixed 
in  one  of  the  niches.  There  he  remains  for  years,  un- 
til it  is  time  for  him  to  give  place  to  some  one  else,  and 
then  his  bones  are  mingled  with  the  hundreds  around 
him,  who  are  forming  fantastic  shapes  on  the  ceiling. 

It  was,  indeed,  a  ghastly  display,  a  sort  of  caricature 
of  death,  to  see  these  skulls  grinning  from  under  their 
hoods,  —  some  white  and  glistening,  some  with  the 
brown  skin  still  undecayed  and  drawn  like  parchment 
over  the  bones.  The  teeth  had  fallen  from  their 
mouths,  or  else  remained  there  black  with  age.  And 
thus  they  are  tied  up,  bending  forward  from  their  shal- 
low niches,  until  they  drop  to  pieces  or  are  obliged 
to  give  place  to  others.  The  old  monk  spoke  to  me 
only  in  a  low  whisper,  and  seemed  awed  by  the  spirit 
of  the  place.  He  saw,  indeed,  his  brethren  around 
him,  their  dress  of  brown  sackcloth  exactly  like  his 
own,  and  before  him,  in  one  of  these  little  chapels,  was 
to  be,  first  his  grave,  and  then  the  niche  from  which, 
perhaps  a  century  hence,  his  ghastly  skeleton  would 
look  forth,  a  show  to  those  who  come  after  us. 

On  the  Festival  of  All  Souls,  the  scene  which  is  wit- 
nessed here  is  still  more  striking.  A  solemn  service  is 
held  in  this  Chapel  of  the  Dead,  and  masses  are  offered 
for  their  souls.  Garlands  are  placed  on  the  white 
skulls  of  the  skeleton  monks,  and  bouquets  of  flowers  in 
their  hands.  The  brethren  of  the  Order  gather  around 
the  altar,  formed  of  the  bones  of  those  who  have  gone 
before  them,  and  the  lights  which  flash  from  above  are 
upheld  by  chandeliers  of  the  same  ghastly  materials. 
The  dead  and  the  living  meet  together;  and  prayers 
are  uttered  by  the  aged  men  as  they  kneel  at  this  mel- 
ancholy shrine  ;  and  incense  floats  in  clouds  around 


150    THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

these  spoils  of  the  tomb.  But  as  they  sing  the  hymns 
for  the  dead,  with  what  solemn  emphasis  must  they 
chant  the  words  of  the  "Dies  Irae," — 

"  Lacrymosa  dies  ilia 
Qua  resurget  ex  favilla 
Judicandus  homo  reus. 
Huic  ergo  parce  Deus, 
Pie  Jesu  Domine ! 
Dona  eis  requiem." 

"  That  day  of  doom,  that  day  of  tears, 
When  guilty  man  awakes  in  fears, 
From  dust,  and  'fore  his  Judge  appears. 
O  bounteous  Jesus,  Lord  forever  blest ! 
Give  faithful  souls  departed  endless  rest.^ 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

CHRISTIAN  ART. OVERBECK. 

NE  of  the  wonders  of  Rome  at  the  present 
day  is  a  German  artist  of  the  name  of  Over- 
beck,  with  whose  reputation  we  had  been 
familiar  long  before  we  left  home.  He  is 
said  to  have  brought  Christian  art  to  a  higlier  degree 
of  perfection  than  any  who  are  now  living.  It  is  one 
of  the  pleasures  indeed  of  this  land  of  paintings  and 
statues,  to  study  the  progress  of  art  in  past  ages, 
and  to  mark  how  it  has  been  gradually  modified 
and  changed  by  the  progress  of  the  religious  prin- 
ciple. 

The  ancient  Greeks  worshipped  only  physical 
beauty,  and  deified  the  human  form.  They  drew 
their  inspiration  from  the  old  Mythology,  and  in  the 
arts  produced  Apollo  as  the  model  of  manly  vigor,  and 
Venus  as  the  embodiment  of  female  loveliness.  They 
bequeathed  this  feeling  to  those  who  came  after  them 
and  studied  their  creations  of  matchless  grace ;  and 
thus  for  ages  artists  seemed  to  seek  their  inspiration 
only  in  "  the  fair  humanities  of  old  religions."  Form- 
ing to  themselves  a  standard  of  ideal  beauty,  they 
mused  over  it  through  long  years  of  earnest  toil,  seek- 
ing to  develop  the  conception  and  perpetuate  it  in 
the  changeless  marble.     Sometimes  every  thought  and 


152    THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

effort  were  concentrated  upon  a  single  statue,  which 
was  to  embody  his  ideas  of  perfection.  In  it  the  artist 
enshrined  the  noble  visions  he  had  cherished,  and  it 
constituted  at  once  the  history  of  his  own  mind  and 
the  labor  of  his  life. 

But  as  the  Christian  faith  prevailed  and  sunk  deeper 
into  the  heart  of  the  world,  a  higher  principle  seemed 
to  be  breathed  into  the  arts,  and  we  can  trace  its  prog- 
ress as  the  mediaeval  ages  went  on.  Christianity 
gradually  spiritualized  and  elevated  the  old  concep- 
tions of  beauty.  The  religious  feeling  became  im- 
pressed upon  the  artist's  mind,  and  the  Madonna,  with 
her  chastened  loveliness  and  holy  associations,  took 
the  place  of  the  Queen  of  Love.  The  students  of  art 
cultivated  the  poetry  of  religion.  In  the  last  century, 
indeed,  an  aesthetic  school  was  foimed  on  these  princi- 
ples, which  for  a  long  time  exercised  a  great  influence 
on  the  Hhine,  but  has  now  sunk  out  of  notice.  One 
of  its  members  has  beautifully  set  forth  their  views  in 
a  woi*k  entitled,  "  Reveries  of  an  Art-loving  Monk.'* 
The  writer  had  once  been  a  Protestant,  but  so  de- 
voted was  he  to  these  studies  that  he  became  a  Ro- 
manist, because,  as  he  said,  "  he  could  not  worship  the 
art  without  subscribing  to  the  faith  which  gave  it 
birth." 

This  is  almost  the  history  of  Overbeck.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century  he  was  dismissed, 
from  the  Academy  at  Vienna,  because  he  did  not  con- 
form himself  to  the  artistical  rules  laid  down  by  the 
institution.  He  almost  entirely  discarded  the  use  of 
models,  except  for  the  arrangement  of  drapery,  be^ 
cause  he  thought  them  unfavorable  to  the  ideal  con- 
ception of   character.     He  trusted  to  his  own  vivid 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    153 

imagination  to  delineate  correctly  the  images  which 
floated  before  his  mind.  In  1809  he  came  to  Rome, 
where  he  was  shortly  joined  by  Peter  Cornelius  and 
William  Schadow,  men  like-minded  with  himself,  and 
for  a  time  they  lived  in  perfect  seclusion,  perfecting 
their  new  principles  of  art. 

They  soon  announced  their  fundamental  doctrine, 
that  a  deep  devotional  feeling  was  the  true  source  of 
an  artist's  inspiration.  Thus,  they  became  the  apos- 
tles of  a  new  faith  which  was  not  long  wanting  in 
disciples.  They  discarded  the  theatrical  attitudes 
taken  from  the  danseurs  of  the  ballet,  and  became 
more  true  to  nature,  while  at  the  same  time  they  gave 
everything  a  religious  character.  But  with  some  of 
their  number  professional  enthusiasm  was  carried  to 
an  extent  which  led  them  back  into  the  bosom  of  the 
Romish  Church.  They  found  indeed  more  affinity 
between  the  practice  of  the  arts  and  her  gorgeous 
services,  than  they  did  in  the  chilling,  rationalistic 
creed  in  which  they  had  been  educated.  Such  was 
the  case  witli  Overbeck  and  Schadow,  while  Cornelius, 
we  believe,  remained  unchanged.  But  these  religious 
differences  entered  into  their  artistical  feelings  —  di- 
minished somewhat  their  fraternal  intercourse  —  and 
the  little  brotherhood  at  last  separated.  Schadow  and 
his  pupils  returned  to  Dusseldorf,  where  he  was  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  Academy ;  Cornelius  was  employed 
by  the  King  of  Bavaria  at  Munich ;  while  Overbeck 
preferred  remaining  at  Rome,  where  everything  suited 
his  own  peculiar  temperament.^ 

During  the  years  which  have  since  passed,  Over- 

1  HisUnre  de  VArt  Modcme  en  AUemagne.  Par  le  Compte  A.  Raczyn- 
ski. 


154     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME, 

heck  lias  continued  a  most  bigoted  Romanist,  but  at 
the  same  time  celebrated  for  his  austere  life  and  saint- 
like character.  He  is  indeed  a  perfect  ascetic  —  one 
who  in  another  age  would  have  been  canonized  —  liv- 
ing only  for  his  faith,  and  using  his  art  but  to  minister 
to  its  development.  His  very  appearance  tells  his 
character.  Thin,  and  even  emaciated,  there  is  some- 
thing spiritual  in  his  whole  look,  and  it  conveys  the 
idea  of  one  worn  down  by  fasts  and  vigils.  His  studio 
is  open  but  for  two  hours  in  one  single  day  of  the 
week,  and  then  his  rooms  are  filled,  and  he  is  there 
himself  to  explain  the  pictures.  The  remark  had  fre- 
quently been  made  to  me,  that  "  they  were  as  good  as 
sermons,"  and  they  certainly  seemed  to  produce  a 
calming  influence  on  those  who  studied  them.  There 
was  an  absence  of  that  laughing  conversation  which  is 
heard  in  other  studios,  but  the  visitors  talked  in  a  low 
voice,  as  if  affected  by  the  very  atmosphere  and  spirit 
of  the  place.  And  there  stood  the  artist  himself,  with 
his  rapt  and  earnest  look,  his  gaze  perhaps  intently 
fixed  on  some  drawing  before  him,  his  whole  appear- 
ance harmonizing  admirably  with  the  scene  in  which 
he  was  an  actor. 

Overbeck  devotes  himself  entirely  to  subjects  of  a 
strictly  religious  character,  generally  in  illustration  of 
some  part  of  Scripture  history.  He  paints  but  little  — 
the  only  pieces  he  has  executed  being,  I  believe,  altar- 
pieces  for  some  churches.  He  merely  draws  in  ciiar- 
coal,  and  his  sketches  are  afterwards  engraved,  while 
the  originals  are  purchased  by  a  society  in  Germany 
which  is  desirous  of  forming  a  complete  collection  of 
his  works.  The  wonder  is,  the  effect  —  the  expres- 
sion he  can  produce  with  such  simple  materials.     A 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    155 

sheet  of  paper,  a  piece  of  charcoal,  and  bread  for 
erasure  —  these  are  all  he  requires  to  create  the  beau- 
tiful forms  which  almost  seem  to  "  live  and  move  and 
have  theu'  beinc;"  before  us.  He  throws  his  whole 
soul  into  the  conception,  and  all  his  deep  devotion 
breathes  forth  from  every  figure.  He  one  day  over- 
heard a  lady,  who  was  looking  at  one  of  his  drawings, 
exclaim,  "  How  beautiful !  how  graceful !  "  "  Mad- 
ame," said  he,  "  it  pains  me  to  hear  you  say  so.  I 
was  in  hopes  of  making  them  more  than  beautiful  and 
graceful.     I  wished  them  to  be  religious." 

In  most  of  his  drawings,  the  figure  of  our  Lord  is 
introduced,  and  it  is  in  this  that  the  artist  particularly 
excels.  There  is  a  degree  of  calm  and  heavenly 
beauty,  united  with  a  commanding  dignity,  which  is 
seen  in  the  pictures  of  no  other  artist.  In  this  partic- 
ular Raphael  has  not  excelled  him  in  his  celebrated 
picture  of  "  The  Transfiguration."  Overbeck,  indeed, 
some  time  ago  published  a  work,  in  which  he  asserted 
that  no  one  could  paint  rehgious  subjects  without  be- 
ing himself  a  religious  man.  Correct,  however,  as  the 
principle  may  be,  his  illustration  of  it  is  singularly  un- 
fortunate, for  he  applies  it  to  Raphael,  asserting  that 
in  his  latter  days,  w^hen  he  devoted  his  pencil  and  tal- 
ent to  the  sensual  mythology  of  Greece  and  Rome,  he 
incapacitated  himself  for  the  loftier  delineation  of  sub- 
jects of  a  sacred  character.  As  he  forcibly  expresses 
it,  "  When  Raphael  forsook  God,  God  forsook  him." 
But  who  that  has  sat  for  hours  without  weariness  be- 
fore his  "  Holy  Family  "  —  the  "  Madonna  della  Seg- 
giola  " — in  the  Pitti  Palace  at  Florence,  but  must  enter 
his  protest  against  such  an  assertion  !  There  is  an  ex- 
pression of  indescribable  beauty  in  the  countenance  of 


156     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

tlie  Virgin  —  the  mingling  of  deep  maternal  love  with 
the  lofty  consciousness  of  being  the  Mother  of  our 
Lord,  which  forces  on  us  the  conviction  that  in  the 
closing  years  of  life  he  had  not  lost  the  high  ideal 
character  of  his  earlier  Madonnas.  Still  more  is  the 
feeling  deepened  when  we  stand  in  the  Hall  of  the 
Vatican,  and  gaze  upon  his  last  and  noblest  painting, 
which  the  hand  of  Death  left  unfinished,  but  which  has 
remained  for  three  centuries,  the  very  triumph  and 
miracle  of  art. 

We  may,  however,  apply  Overbeck's  theory  to  him- 
self, for  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  his  deep  de- 
votional feeling  is  the  inspiration  which  gives  life  and 
reality  to  the  figures  he  sketches.  When  we  were  at 
his  studio,  he  was  employed  on  a  half-finished  picture 
of  "  The  Scourging  of  our  Lord,"  in  which  the  mild 
yet  lofty  endurance  of  the  patient  suflPerer  is  finely 
contrasted  with  the  demoniacal  expression  on  the  coun- 
tenances of  the  tormentors.  The  face  of  each  one  is 
intended  to  represent  some  particular  vice,  such  as 
pride,  anger,  envy,  and  it  needs  no  key  to  point  out 
which  is  delineated.  Another  drawinir  was,  —  "  Our 
Lord  sitting  in  the  Boat,  and  preaching  to  the  Multi- 
tudes on  Shore."  His  arms  are  extended  towards 
them,  and  His  expression  is  the  rapt  look  of  one  who 
alone  could  fully  realize  liow  much  depended  on  their 
acceptance  of  His  offers.  Near  it  hangs  "  The  Massa- 
cre of  the  Innocents."  In  the  gallery  at  Bologna  we 
have  seen  Guide's  celebrated  picture  on  the  same  sub- 
ject. It  has  all  the  advantage  of  his  splendid  coloring, 
and  the  wildness  of  the  different  groups,  the  agony  of 
the  mothers,  and  the  marble  paleness  of  the  infants, 
are  most  remarkable ;  and  yet,  in  some  respects,  we 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    157 

prefer  this  sketch  by  Overbeck.  We  shudder  as  we 
look  at  Guido's.  It  is  too  painful  in  its  interest.  Here, 
on  the  contrary,  the  story  is  told  with  equal  power,  and 
yet  the  groups  are  arranged  with  such  skill,  as  to  show 
the  striknig  points  of  the  scene,  at  the  same  time  skill- 
fully veiling  those  which  are  too  revolting  to  the  feel- 
ings. My  favorite  picture,  however,  among  them  all, 
is  one  to  illustrate  "  The  Parable  of  the  Ten  Virgins." 
Some  are  trimming  their  lamps,  while  others  are  just 
starting  from  sleep,  and  in  the  distance  is  seen  the  ap- 
proaching train  of  the  bridegroom.  Had  not  the  artist 
objected  to  the  terms,  I  should  say  that  the  female 
figures  were  exceedingly  graceful  and  beautiful. 

There  is  also  one  large  allegorical  picture,  from 
which  he  has  painted  an  altar-piece  for  the  church 
at  Frankfort.  It  represents  "  The  Triumph  of  Chris- 
tianity over  the  Arts."  In  the  upper  part  of  the  picture 
is  the  Madonna  holding  the  infant  Christ,  to  represent 
Religion,  and  below  her  are  the  different  schools  of 
artists :  sculptors,  painters,  architects,  and  poets.  All 
are  lookino;  towards  her,  and  enoraored  in  some  work 
which  is  to  advance  the  worsnip  of  her  Son.  Many  of 
them  are  portraits  which  we  recognize.  There  stands 
Michael  Angelo  holding  his  plan  of  St.  Peter's ;  and 
Raphael,  whose  name  brings  to  the  mind  such  associa- 
tions of  beauty ;  and  Dante,  whose  genius,  on  its  bold 
and  fearless  wing,  was  able  to  penetrate  into  the  un- 
seen world ;  and  Tasso,  wearing  the  laurel  crown  which 
so  well  becomes  the  author  of  "Jerusalem  Delivered." 

But  where  among  them  all  is  so  perfect  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  triumph  of  our  Faith  over  Art,  as  is  fur- 
nished by  Overbeck  himself?  Every  talent,  and 
thought,  and  feeling,  is  consecrated  to  this  cause.     His 


158     THE    CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

object  is  not  only  to  delineate  the  beautiful  in  nature, 
or  to  arrest  and  perpetuate  by  his  pencil  the  bright 
visions  which  flit  before  his  own  inward  soul,  but 
through  these  instruments  to  inspire  all  around  him 
with  that  love  of  moral  beauty,  which  is  a  necessary 
characteristic  of  "  the  pure  in  heart." 


CHAPTER  Xiy. 

EXCURSION   ON   THE   APPIAN    WAY. 

E  have  been  waiting  for  a  peculiarly  fine  day 
to  make  an  excursion  beyond  the  walls,  and 
this  morning,  one  of  the  most  beautiftil  that 
ever  dawned,  was  all  that  we  could  desire. 
Although  the  seventh  of  January,  yet  the  sun  was 
shining  so  warmly,  that  in  our  land  it  would  have 
passed  for  June,  while  there  was  a  freshness  in  the  air, 
which,  as  Madame  de  Stael  says,  "  produces  something 
of  melody  on  the  senses." 

We  set  out  for  the  romantic  fountain  of  Egeria, 
about  three  miles  from  the  gates  of  the  city,  yet  ex- 
pecting, with  the  intermediate  places  of  interest,  to  find 
full  employment  for  the  day.  Our  course  led  us  past 
the  Capitoline  Hill,  and  through  the  Roman  Fonim, 
with  its  lofty,  solitary  pillars,  gleaming  in  the  sunlight, 
the  Forum, — 

.    .    .    .    "  Where  once  the  mightiest  spirits  met 
In  terrible  conflict ;  this,  while  Rome  was  free, 
The  noblest  theatre  on  this  side  heaven." 

We  crossed  the  Via  Sacra,  passed  under  the  arches 
of  Titus  and  Constantino,  turned  from  the  Coliseum, 
and  winding  round  the  base  of  the  Palatine  Hill,  and 
the  mighty  ruins  of  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars,  entered 
the  Appian  Way.  Constructed  nearly  eighteen  cen- 
turies ago,  its  solid  pavement  is  now  as  firm  as  ever, 


160     THE   CHRISTMAS  HO  L  YD  AYS  IN  ROME. 

and  we  rode  over  the  same  stones  which  in  Rome's 
glorious  day  were  trodden  by  the  triumphal  procession, 
as  it  slowly  passed  up  to  the  Capitol.  The  roads  which 
extended  to  all  parts  of  the  Empire  were  among  the 
few  works  of  utility  constructed  by  the  Romans,  and 
these  we  can  see  were  designed  by  Providence,  that 
the  world  should  thus  devise  the  means  by  which  the 
Church  was  to  win  it  back  to  herself.  "  The  legions 
of  great  Rome  were  for  some  centuries  toilinoj  with  the 
pickaxe  and  spade,  to  construct  mighty  roads  by  which 
Apostles  might  compass  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Those 
huge  arteries  were  the  unconscious  preparation  which 
poor,  blind  Paganism  was  making  for  the  more  rapid 
circulation  of  the  fresh  blood  that  should  spring  up  and 
stir  that  monstrous  Empire,  and  be  an  element  at  once 
of  health  and  of  destruction."  ^ 

The  old  Appian  Way  was  distinguished  for  the  splen- 
dor of  the  monuments  lining  its  sides,  —  similar  to 
those  now  seen  in  the  Street  of  the  Tombs  in  Pompeii, 
—  and  Cicero  refers  to  them  when  he  says,  in  his 
"  Tusculan  Disputations," — "When  you  go  out  of  the 
Porta  Capena,  and  see  the  tombs  of  Calatinus,  the 
Scipios,  the  Servilii,  and  the  Metelli,  can  you  consider 
that  the  buried  inmates  are  unhappy?  " 

Let  us  endeavor  then  to  call  back  seventeen  cen- 
turies, and  cause  to  pass  before  us  the  scenes  of  a 
CLASSICAL  FUNERAL,  as  oucc  it  took  placc  on  this  spot. 
It  is  the  burial  of  one  of  the  Metelli  in  the  early  age  of 
the  Empire,  when  the  practice  of  interring  the  body 
had  ceased,  and  that  of  burning  been  substituted  in  its 
place.  The  Lihertinarii  (undertakers)  have  performed 
their  duty,  and  for  some  days  the  body,  dressed  in  the 

1  F.  W.  Faber. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    161 

official  robes  which  once  it  wore,  has  been  exposed  on 
a  couch  in  the  vestibule  of  the  house,  with  its  feet  to- 
wards the  door,  and  the  branch  of  c^^^ress  waving 
above  it.  But  it  is  now  the  eighth  day,  tlie  time  for 
the  funeral,  and  the  Appian  Way  is  filled  with  crowds, 
who  have  poured  out  to  see  the  Patrician's  burial.  At 
length  there  came  the  slow  procession,  the  wail  of 
voices  becoming  gradually  more  distinct,  while,  when 
it  ceased,  the  music  heard  in  its  place  sounded  subdued 
and  mournfully.  First  walked  the  Master  of  Cere- 
monies, attended  by  lictors  dressed  in  black  ;  then  the 
musicians  playing  their  sorrowful  strains ;  then  the 
mourning  women,  who  were  hired  to  lament  the  de- 
ceased, and  sing  the  funeral  song  in  his  praise  ;  then 
the  slaves  whom  he  had  freed,  wearing  the  cap  of  lib- 
erty; then  the  images  of  his  many  ancestors,  and  the 
military  rewards  he  had  gained.  The  corpse  itself 
came  next,  on  a  couch  of  ivory,  covered  with  purple 
and  gold.  A  garland  of  withered,  flowers,  en  wreathed 
with  fillets  of  white  wool,  crowned  his  head ;  in  his 
mouth  was  the  coin  to  pay  the  ferrj^man  in  Hades,  and 
by  his  side  the  honey-cake  to  bribe  the  watchful  Cer- 
berus. Leaves  and  flowers,  too,  were  strewn  upon  the 
bier,  which  was  borne  on  the  shoulders  of  the  nearest 
relatives.  Behind  came  his  family  in  mourning,  and  as 
they  walked  they  uttered  loudly  their  lamentations,  the 
females  beating  their  breasts,  and  wounding  their  faces 
with  their  nails. 

But  they  have  at  length  reached  the  fiineral  pyre, 
as  it  stood  altar-like  in  its  shape,  and  covered  with 
dark  leaves  and  the  cypress  branches  consecrated  to 
the  tomb.  Loudly  they  chanted  the  Hymn  for  the 
Dead,  while  all  arranged  themselves  round  it,  and  the 
11 


162    THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

body  was  placed  on  its  top.  Then  the  nearest  relative 
advanced,  and  with  his  face  averted  applied  the  torch. 
Perfumed  oil  had  been  poured  over  the  wood,  and 
the  fl&.mes  therefore  encircled  it  at  once,  and  darted  up 
hio-h  into  the  air.  For  a  lono;  time  the  multitude  stood 
around  in  a  dread  silence,  while  the  priests  flung  per- 
fumes into  the  fire,  until  the  pile  was  consumed. 
Then  the  attendants  came  forward  and  poured  red 
wine  upon  the  hot,  burning  ashes,  while  the  relatives 
gathered  them  with  the  bones  into  the  urn.  The  ser- 
vice was  now  over ;  the  priest,  with  the  laurel  branch 
in  his  hand,  sprinkled  those  around  with  water  of  puri- 
fication, and  dismissed  them  with  the  word  Ilieet. 
And  as  they  departed  to  the  city,  each  one  often 
turned  and  bade  farewell  to  the  deceased  with  the 
mournful  word  Vale^  while  the  parting  Hymn  swelled 
loudly  forth  with  its  touching  tones  :  — 


"  Farewell,  0  sotil  departed ! 
Farewell,  O  sacred  urn  ! 
Bereaved  and  broken-hearted, 
To  earth  the  mourners  turn ! 
To  the  dim  and  dreary  shore, 
Thou  art  gone  our  steps  before ! 
But  thither  the  swift  hours  lead  us. 
And  thou  dost  but  a  while  precede  us ! 

Salve  —  salve ! 
Loved  urn,  and  thou  solemn  cell. 
Mute  ashes!  — farewell,  farewell! 

Salve  —  salve ! 

II. 

"  Ilieet  —  ire  licet  — 
Ah,  vainly  would  we  part! 
Thy  tomb  is  in  the  faithful  heart. 
About  evermore  we  bear  thee ; 
For  who  from  the  heart  can  tear  thee? 
Vainly  we  snrinkle  o'er  us 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.  163 

The  drops  of  the  cleansing  stream ; 
And  vainly  bright  before  us 

The  lustral  fire  shall  beam. 
For  where  is  the  charm  expelling 
Thy  thoughts  from  its  sacred  dwelling? 
Our  griefs  are  thy  funeral  feast, 
And  memory  thy  mourning  priest. 
Salve  —  salve ! 


"  Ilicet  —  ire  licet  — 
The  spark  from  the  hearth  is  gone 

Wherever  the  air  shall  bear  it ; 
The  elements  take  their  o>vn; 

The  shadows  receive  thy  spirit. 
It  will  soothe  thee  to  feel  our  grief, 

As  thou  glid'st  by  the  gloomy  river; 
If  love  may  in  life  be  brief, 

In  death  it  is  fixed  forever. 

Salve  —  salve ! 
In  the  hall  which  our  feasts  illume 
The  rose  for  an  hour  may  bloom ; 
But  the  cypress  that  decks  the  tomb  — 
The  cypress  is  green  forever ! 

Salve  —  salve !  "  i 

The  last  lines  have  dispelled  the  vision,  the  shadows 
are  gone,  and  there  is  nothing  here  but  the  barren 
Campagna,  and  the  desolate  tombs  of  Rome's  for- 
gotten sons.  Yet  more  picturesque  remains  I  have 
never  seen  ;  mighty  masses  of  stone  or  brick-work 
utterly  ruined  during  the  wars  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
covered  with  rank  vegetation,  the  wild  vines  trailing 
around  them,  or  sometimes  — 

"  With  two  thousand  years  of  ivy  grown 
The  garland  of  Eternity,  where  wave 
The  green  leaves  over  all  by  time  o'erthrown." 

We  first  stopped  at  one  of  those  to  which  Cicero 

1  This  Hymn  is  by  SirE.  L.  Bulwer,  and  although  not  a  translation,  3'et 
embodies  so  much  of  the  spirit  of  the  old  Hymns  for  the  Dead,  that  we  can- 
not forbear  giving  it. 


1G4     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

refers  —  the  tomb  of  the  Scipios.  It  is  in  a  vineyard 
on  the  hill-side,  with  a  single  solitary  cypress  rising 
above  it.  Fortunately,  it  became  covered  by  the  soil, 
and  was  thus  forgotten  and  unknown  until  the  year 
1780.  By  accident  it  was  then  discovered,  and  its 
vaults  once  more  opened,  after  being  closed  for 
tAventy-one  centuries !  The  front  is  formed  with 
arches  and  Doric  columns,  presenting  a  chaste  fagade. 
We  stopped  at  a  stone  gate  having  over  it  the  inscrip- 
tion, Sepulehro  degli  Scipiom,  and  the  sound  of  wheels 
having  brought  the  usual  cicerone  with  a  tribe  of  assist- 
ants from  their  residence  in  the  vineyard,  we  mounted 
the  broken  steps  which  led  to  the  tomb.  Here  tapers 
were  lighted  and  we  prepared  to  descend.  I  had  ex- 
pected a  single  chamber,  but  found  instead  a  series  of 
passages  —  dark  and  damp  —  extending  far  into  the 
hill-side.  The  principal  sarcophagus  has  been  re- 
moved to  the  Vatican,  where  we  had  already  seen  it. 
Our  guide  pointed  out  the  place  from  which  it  was 
taken.  It  bore  the  name  of  the  great-grandfather  of 
Scipio  Africanus,  who  was  Consul  b.  c.  297,  and 
when  opened,  the  skeleton  was  still  entire,  with  the 
ring  upon  one  of  its  fingers.  This  relic  is  now  in 
the  collection  of  the  Earl  of  Beverley,  in  England. 
Among  other  inscriptions  remaining  here,  we  saw  one 
commemorative  of  the  Scipio  who  conquered  in  Spain, 
and  received  from  thence  his  name  of  Hispanus.  The 
noblest  of  them  all,  Scipio  Africanus,  is  not  buried 
here.  Driven  by  the  ingratitude  of  his  countrymen 
from  the  city  he  had. saved,  the  last  part  of  his  life 
was  passed  at  Liternum,  near  Naples,  and  there  are 
still  shown  the  remains  of  his  monument  with  a  por- 
tion of  the  inscription,  —  "  Ingrata  patria,"  etc.    In  an 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.  166 

excursion  which  we  made  to  Baise,  the  guide  took  us 
to  the  top  of  a  Httle  hill,  from  which  we  could  see  in 
the  distance  the  white  and  glistening  marble,  which 
shows  where  — 

"  Scipio  sleeps  by  the  upbraiding  shore." 

But  what  solemn  funeral  rites  must  have  been  here 
performed  in  this  old  vineyard,  as  one  by  one  the 
members  of  this  noble  family  were  borne  to  their  sep- 
ulchre, and  white-robed  priests  gathered  about  this 
portal  by  which  now  we  stood,  and  eloquent  orators 
declaimed,  and  these  hills  around  were  covered  by  the 
thousands  of  Rome  who  had  poured  out  to  do  honor 
to  him  who  in  Africa  or  Spain  had  led  their  armies  to 
victory !  Who  could  then  have  prophesied,  that  this 
would  be  despoiled  of  its  noblest  dust,  and  turned  into 
a  common  show-place ! 

"  The  Scipios'  tomb  contains  no  ashes  now; 
The  very  sepulchres  lie  tenantless 
Of  their  heroic  dwellers." 

In  the  same  vineyard  is  a  large  Columbarium,  a 
place  where  were  deposited  urns  filled  with  the  ashes 
of  the  slaves  and  freedmcn.  It  was  only  discovered 
about  four  years  since,  and  is  therefore  almost  in  its 
antique  state.  Upon  descending  into  it,  we  found  our- 
selves in  an  immense  chamber,  surrounded  by  little 
niches,  each  containing  an  urn.  We  removed  the 
cover  from  several,  which  were  still  filled  with  ashes 
and  calcined  bones.  Above  each  was  a  little  slab  con- 
taining the  name.  Some  inscriptions  I  copied.  "  Ne 
tangito  O  mortalis.  Reverere  manes  deos."  "  Hie 
reliciae  Pelopis.  Sit  tibi  terra  lebis."  It  will  be  per- 
ceived that  the  Latin  here  would  scarcely  be  called 
classical.     One  slave  rejoiced  in  the  name  of  "  Scribo- 


166     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

nia  Cleopatra."  Some  of  the  freedmen  were  evidently 
men  of  consideration,  as  it  is  said  of  one,  — "  patri 
bene  merenti."  One,  we  are  told,  was  a  member  of 
the  praetorian  guard;  another  was  butler  to  his  mas- 
ter; another  an  actor,  "imitator."  Sometimes  it  is  re- 
corded on  the  little  monument,  —  "  frater  ejus  fecit ;  " 
sometimes,  —  "pia  mater  fecit."  Beneath,  in  a  niche, 
still  stands  the  little  altar,  with  the  inscription  dedica- 
ting it  to  "  Diis  manibus,"  and  above  on  the  frescoes 
are  the  paintings,  representing  the  Cock,  and  other 
emblems  connected  with  ^sculapius  and  Mors. 

From  this  we  went  to  another  in  the  same  vineyard, 
smaller,  but  similar  in  character.  The  frescoes  here 
are  as  fresh  as  if  yesterday  they  were  painted,  and  the 
bronze  lamp  still  hangs  from  the  ceiling,  just  as  it  was 
left,  perhaps  two  thousand  years  ago.  The  ashes  of 
these  slaves  yet  remain,  while  the  old  heroic  Scipios 
have  been  torn  from  their  sepulchres,  and  their  bones 
scattered. 

Adjoining  is  a  field,  in  which  the  Vestal  Virgins,  who 
proved  unfaithful  to  their  vows,  were  buried  alive. 
After  being  scourged  and  stripped  of  her  badges  of 
office,  the  offender  was  attired  like  a  corpse,  and  borne 
through  the  Forum  wjth  all  the  ceremonies  of  a  real 
funeral.  A  vault  had  been  prepared  under  ground, 
with  a  couch,  and  lamp,  and  table,  with  a  little  food, 
and  to  this  the  culprit  was  led  by  the  Pontifex  Maxi- 
mus,  the  earth  was  closed  over  the  surface,  and  she 
was  left  to  her  lingering  death. 

We  drove  on  to  the  Church  of  San  Sebastian,  erected 
on  the  spot  where  tradition  says  that  saint  suffered 
martyrdom.  The  Church  was  open,  and  deserted,  ex- 
cept by  the  beggars,  who  were  sunning  themselves  in 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    167 

the  porch,  and  it  was  with  some  trouble  that  we  were 
able  to  find  any  one  to  be  our  guide.  An  old  monk, 
with  the  cord  round  his  waist,  at  length  appeared,  and 
in  most  choice  Italian  we  signified  our  wish  to  descend 
into  the  Catacombs.  This  is  one  of  the  openings,  and 
from  here  they  have  been  traced  (it  is  said)  for  twenty 
miles,  but  owing  to  the  loss  of  life  from  persons  wan- 
dering into  them,  most  of  the  intricate  passages  have 
now  been  closed.  In  the  sacristy  of  the  Church,  a  plan 
of  the  Catacombs,  as  they  extend  for  a  few  miles,  was 
hanging  up,  which  represented  them  as  being  most 
complicated  —  crossing  and  recrossing  in  every  possible 
way.  A  Jesuit,  belonging  to  the  Church  of  Gesu,  in 
Rome,  was  about  to  publish  a  new  engraving,  but  it  was 
not  yet  completed  when  we  left  the  city.  The  passages 
are  generally  ranged,  one  above  the  other,  in  three 
stories,  and  this  renders  them  more  intricate  from  the 
many  stairs  which  ascend  and  descend. 

Each  one  of  the  party  was  fiimished  with  a  light,  and 
we  followed  our  guide  down  a  flight  of  stone  steps, 
worn  by  the  feet  of  the  multitudes  who  had  trodden 
them  for  eighteen  centuries  past.  At  the  bottom  com- 
menced the  Catacombs,  —  damp,  winding  passages,  — 
often  not  more  than  three  feet  wide,  and  so  low  that 
sometimes  we  were  obliged  to  stoop.  Then,  again,  they 
would  expand  into  apartments  arched  overhead,  and 
large  enough  to  contain  a  small  company.  On  each 
side  were  cavities,  in  which  were  placed  the  bodies  of 
the  dead,  or  niches  for  the  urns  containing  their  ashes, 
and  small  apertures,  where  lamps  were  found.  But 
few  sarcophagi  were  discovered  here,  for  no  pomp  or 
^(^remony  attended  the  burial  of  the  early  Christians, 
when   their  friends  hastily  laid   them   in   these  dark 


168     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

vaults.  They  sought  not  the  sciilptured  marble  to  in- 
close their  remains,  but  were  contented  with  the  rude 
emblems  which  were  carved  above,  merely  to  show 
that  for  the  body  resting  there  they  expected  a  share 
in  the  glory  of  the  Resurrection.  Very  many  of  the 
graves  were  those  of  children,  and  sometimes  a  whole 
family  were  interred  together.  The  cavities  were  cut 
into  the  soft  stone,  just  large  enough  for  the  body,  with 
a  semicircular  excavation  for  the  head,  and  the  opening 
was  closed  with  a  thin  slab  of  marble. 

Most  of  the  inscriptions  have  been  removed  to  the 
Museum  of  the  Vatican,  where  we  had  already  seen 
them.  They  are  arranged  there  in  the  same  gallery 
with  those  found  in  Pagan  tombs,  and  contrast  with 
them  most  strongly  in  their  constant  reference  to  a 
state  beyond  the  grave,  while  on  the  Roman  monu- 
ments are  no  expressions  but  those  of  hopeless  grief. 
It  shows  how  immediate  was  the  elevating  influence  of 
the  new  creed.  Nothing,  indeed,  wliich  is  gloomy  or 
painful  finds  a  place  among  these  records  of  the  mar- 
tyrs. They  evidently  laid  the  athlete  of  Christ  to  his 
rest  without  any  sorrow  that  his  fight  was  over,  or  any 
expression  of  vengeance  against  those  who  doomed  him 
to  death.  They  thought  too  much  of  his  celestial  rec- 
ompense to  associate  with  it  the  tortures  and  evils  of 
this  lower  life.  The  words  "  in  pace  "  are  frequently 
to  be  deciphered,  and  in  one  case  I  made  out,  —  "  in 
pace  et  in  f ."  They  are  covered,  too,  with  symbolical 
representations.  The  most  frequent  are  the  well- 
known  monogram  of  Christ,  formed  by  the  Greek  let- 
ters X  and  P,  —  the  old  emblem  of  the  fish,  IX0Y2,  the 
letters  of  which  are  composed  of  the  initials  of  the 
Greek  words,  'I>;a-ovs  XpiaTOi  &€ov  Ytos  %oiTr)p,    "Jesus 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME,    169 

Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour ;  "  the  ship,  to  rep- 
resent the  Church ;  the  anchor,  an  emblem  of  hope ; 
the  stag,  to  show  "  the  hart  which  thirsteth  after  the 
water  brooks"  ;  the  hare,  the  timid  Christian  hunted  by 
persecutors ;  the  lion,  the  emblem  of  the  tribe  of 
Judah ;  the  dove,  indicating  the  simplicity,  and  the 
cock,  the  vigilance  of  the  Christian ;  the  peacock  and 
the  phoenix,  emblems  of  the  Resurrection ;  the  vine, 
the  olive  branch,  the  palm,  and  the  lamb.  Some  bear 
the  signs  of  martyrdom,  and  one  only,  a  rudely  sculp- 
tured view  of  a  man  devoured  by  wild  beasts. 

These  are  the  simple  memorials  by  which  devotion 
endeavored  to  hallow  the  tombs  of  the  departed,  and 
inscribe  upon  them  the  unfading  hopes  which  live 
beyond  the  grave.  Even  the  Cross  itself,  the  primal 
symbol  of  Christianity,  which  for  ages  was  used  in  its 
simplest  form,  seemed  to  convey  to  their  minds  nothing 
depressing  or  melancholy.  They  adorned  it  with 
crowns  and  flowers,  as  if  rather  a  sign  of  all  that 
was  cheerful  and  inspiring. 

It  is  instructive  to  remark,  that  in  none  of  these 
monuments  of  the  early  centuries  do  we  see  any  rep- 
resentation of  the  Godhead,  as  is  now  so  common  in 
the  Romish  churches,  under  the  figures  of  an  old  man, 
a  young  man,  and  a  dove.  The  reason  has  been  ad- 
mirably given  by  Milman,  when  he  says,  —  "  Reveren- 
tial awe,  diffidence  in  their  own  skill,  the  still  dominant 
sense  of  the  purely  spiritual  nature  of  the  Parental 
Deity,  or  perhaps  the  exclusive  habit  of  dweUing  upon 
the  Son  as  the  direct  object  of  religious  worship,  re- 
strained early  Christian  art  from  those  attempts  to 
which  we  are  scarcely  reconciled  by  the  sublimity  and 
originality  of  Michael  Angelo   and   Raphael.      Even 


170     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

the  symbolic  representation  of  the  Father  was  rare. 
Where  it  does  appear,  it  is  under  the  symbol  of  an 
immense  hand  issuing  from  a  cloud,  or  a  ray  of  light 
streaming  from  heaven,  to  imply,  it  may  be  presumed, 
the  creative  and  all-enhghtening  power  of  the  Univer- 
sal Father."  The  earliest  instance  we  have  of  the 
Eternal  Father  represented  under  a  human  form,  is 
contained  in  a  Latin  Bible,  —  described  by  Montfau- 
con,  —  which  was  presented  by  the  Canons  of  the 
Church  of  Tours  to  Charles  the  Bold,  in  the  year 
850.  So  long  did  it  take  the  monkish  artists  of  the 
Church  to  reach  the  present  height  of  irreverence ! 

Neither  do  we  find  in  the  Roman  Catacombs  any 
representation  of  the  Virgin  and  Child.  This  too  was 
a  subject  unattempted  in  the  early  Church.  And 
when  at  last  they  began  thus  to  shadow  forth  their 
conceptions  of  the  maternal  tenderness  of  the  mother 
for  the  Infant  Saviour,  she  is  always  represented  veiled. 
They  endeavored  to  express  the  idea  by  the  attitude 
alone,  without  attempting  to  portray  the  mingled  feel- 
ings which  they  supposed  should  characterize  the 
countenance  of  her,  who  with  all  the  affections  of 
human  nature  was  chosen  to  be  the  Mother  of  the 
Lord.  It  was  not,  we  believe,  till  the  sixth  century 
that  these  representations  were  seen ;  and  then  as  the 
superstitious  feeling  increased  which  led  to  the  worship 
of  the  Virgin,  she  was  more  and  more  surrounded  with 
those  emblems  which  exalted  her  at  last  to  adoration  as 
the  Queen  of  Heaven. 

The  same  statement  is  true  with  regard  to  the  Cru- 
cifixion. Not  a  single  attempt  to  portray  it  is  to  be 
seen  on  any  of  these  ancient  monuments.  The  early 
Church  evidently  viewed  this  mysterious  subject  with 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.      171 

a  reverence  too  deep  and  awful  to  allow  its  members 
to  attempt  a  delineation.  There  is  indeed  no  symbol 
of  our  faith,  in  the  use  of  which  we  can  trace  the  suc- 
cessive steps  so  clearly  as  in  this.^  The  lofty  faith  of 
the  primitive  Christians  dwelt  so  much  upon  the  Di- 
vinity of  our  Lord,  that  they  shrank  in  reverence  from 
the  idea  of  coarsely  representing  the  mere  corporeal 
pangs  which  weighed  Him  down  in  the  hour  of  His 
mortal  agony.  Such  thoughts  were  reserved  for  the 
days  of  monachism,  when  the  gloomy  monks,  who 
were  the  artists  of  the  Clmrch,  brooded  in  the  solitude 
of  their  cells  over  these  scenes  of  suffering,  and  when 
they  attempted  to  portray  them,  forgetting  all  that  was 
tender  and  subHme,  furnished  only  that  which  was 
painful  and  repulsive.  The  followers  of  St.  Basil,  we 
are  told,  gave  the  last  degradation  to  this  solemn  sub- 
ject, and  spread  through  Western  Christendom  me- 
morials of  the  Passion  which  were  only  "  of  the  earth, 
earthly." 

These  Catacombs  therefore  furnish  a  valuable  chap- 
ter for  Ecclesiastical  History,  for  we  derive  from  them 
most  of  the  information  we  have  with  reo-ard  to  Chris- 
tian  symbolism.  The  early  martyrs,  by  whom  they  were 
for  a  long  while  peopled,  "  being  dead,  still  speak." 
They  tell  their  own  simple  faith  and  devotion  by  the 
changeless  emblems  which  are  as  expressive  as  words. 
And   as    we   trace   these   pictured   inscriptions   down 

1  Cardinal  Bona  —  as  quoted  by  Milman,  to  whose  History  of  Christianity 
we  have  been  much  indebted  on  this  subject — gives  the  following  as  the 
progress  of  the  gradual  change :  I.  The  simple  Cross.  II.  The  Cross  with 
the  Lamb  at  the  foot  of  it.  III.  Clirist  clothed  on  the  Cross,  with  hands 
uplifted  in  prayer,  but  not  nailed  to  it.  IV.  Christ  fastened  to  the  Cross 
with  four  naifs,  still  living,  and  with  open  eyes.  He  was  not  represented 
as  dead  till  the  tenth  or  eleventh  century. 


172     THE    CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

through  successive  generations,  they  unfold  to  us  the 
gradual  change  which  crept  over  the  feelings  of  the 
Church.  It  seems  to  present  a  strange  contrast.  The 
respect  of  its  members  for  her  who  was  "  blessed 
among  women  "  gradually  deepened  into  adoration, 
while  a  reverence  for  some  of  the  most  sublime  mys- 
teries of  our  faith  was  proportionally  fading  from  their 
minds.  Themes  which  at  first  they  regarded  with  so 
sacred  an  awe  that  they  scarcely  dared  to  comment 
on  them  in  words,  lost  at  last  their  divine  idealism, 
and  were  coarsely  shadowed  forth  by  sensible  objects. 
Thus  it  is  that  in  her  own  bosom,  and  in  places  which 
she  consecrates  as  most  holy,  Papal  Rome  contains 
the  evidence  of  that  silent  change  which,  as  centuries 
went  by,  was  working  in  the  minds  of  her  members. 

Our  guide  pointed  out  to  us,  as  we  passed  along, 
some  tombs  which  had  never  been  opened,  and  whose 
inmates  had  been  left  to  slumber  on  as  seventeen  cen- 
turies ago  they  were  laid  to  their  rest.  There  was 
one,  the  thin  marble  side  of  which  had  cracked,  so 
that  he  could  insert  a  small  taper.  He  bade  us  look  in, 
and  there  we  saw  the  remahis  of  the  skeleton,  lying 
as  it  was  placed  by  its  brethren  in  the  faith  in  those 
early  days  of  persecution  and  trial.  In  these  gloomy 
caverns  the  followers  of  our  Lord  were  then  accus- 
tomed to  meet,  thus  in  secret  to  eat  the  bread  of  life, 
and  with  tears  to  drink  the  water  of  life.  In  one  of 
these  little  chapels  which  tradition  has  thus  conse- 
crated, there  were  found  still  remaining,  a  simple 
earthen  altar,  and  an  antique  Cross  set  in  the  rock 
above  it.  It  was  with  no  ordinary  feelings  that  we 
stood  on  this  spot  and  looked  on  these  evidences  of 
early  worship.     They  had  remained  here  perhaps  un- 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     173 

changed  since  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  and  where 
we  then  were,  men  may  have  bowed  in  prayer  who 
had  themselves  seen  their  Lord  in  the  flesh.  The  re- 
mains were  around  us  of  those  who  had  received  the 
mightiest  of  all  consecrations,  that  of  suffering,  and 
whose  spirits  were  as  noble  as  any  who  had  their 
proud  monuments  on  the  Appian  Way,  and  whose 
names  are  now  as  "  famiHar  in  our  ears  as  household 
words."  But  no  historian  registered  the  deeds  of  the 
despised  Nazarenes.  They  had  no  poet,  and  they 
died. 

"  Carent  quia  vate  sacro." 

This  was  to  us  a  most  interesting  scene,  yet  one  to 
be  felt  more  than  to  be  described.  We  were  glad 
however  to  ascend  the  worn  steps  and  find  ourselves 
once  more  in  the  Church  above.  We  noticed,  indeed, 
that  the  comers  we  turned  in  these  intricate  passages 
were  marked  with  white  paint  to  guide  us,  yet  a  sud- 
den current  of  air  extinmiishino;  our  lights  would  make 
these  signs  useless,  and  from  the  crumbling  nature 
of  the  rock  there  is  always  danger  of  the  caving  in 
of  a  gallery,  or  some  other  accident,  whicli  might  in- 
volve a  party  in  one  common  fate.  Some  years  ago, 
we  were  told,  a  school  of  nearly  thirty  youtli  with 
their  teacher  entered  these  Catacombs  on  a  visit,  and 
never  reappeared.  Every  search  was  made,  but  in 
vain.  The  scene  which  then  was  exhibited  in  these 
dark  passages,  and  the  chill  which  gradually  crept  over 
their  young  spirits  as  hope  yielded  to  despair  could  be 
described  only  by  Dante,  in  terms  in  which  he  has  por- 
trayed the  death  of  Ugolino  and  his  sons  in  the  Tower 
of  Famine  at  Pisa.^ 

1  Inf.  xxxiii.  21-75. 


174     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME, 

On  reentering  the  Churcli,  the  old  monk  lighted  two 
candles  in  a  side  chapel,  and  with  great  reverence 
proceeded  to  display  a  host  of  relics,  such  as  the  blood 
of  the  martyrs,  and  the  arrows  with  which  St.  Sebas- 
tian was  pierced.  The  most  holy  relic  is  a  stone  con- 
taining impressions  of  onr  Saviour's  feet.  As  St.  Peter 
was  fleeing  from  Rome  to  avoid  martyrdom,  —  the  le- 
gend tells  us,  —  he  met  our  Lord  apparently  going 
towards  it.  "  Domine,  quo  vadis  ?  "  (Lord,  whither 
goest  thou?)  asked  the  Apostle,  and  was  answered, 
that  his  Master  was  going  to  suffer  death  again,  since 
His  servants  deserted  their  post.  St.  Peter  therefore 
returned  and  submitted  to  death,  but  on  the  place 
where  his  Lord  stood  were  found  these  indentations  in 
the  hard  stone,  and  a  Church  has  been  erected  there, 
called  by  tlie  name,  "  Domine  quo  vadis."  Our  faith 
however  not  being  very  strong,  we  soon  turned  from 
these  wonders,  and  drove  to  our  next  stopping-place  — 
the  tomb  of  Csecilia  Metella.  This  is  one  of  the  best 
preserved  antiquities  in  Rome,  a  massive  tower  seventy 
feet  in  diameter,  which  Lord  Byron  has  well  described 
in  the  lines  — 

"  There  is  a  stern  round  tower  of  other  days, 
Firm  as  a  fortress,  with  its  fence  of  stone, 
Such  as  an  army's  baffled  strength  detays, 
Standing  with  half  its  battlements  alone." 

No  one  indeed  would  take  it  for  anything  but  a  for- 
tress. Built  of  massive  granite  blocks,  and  with  walls 
twenty-five  feet  thick,  it  seems  intended  to  defy  the 
inroads  of  time  and  the  strength  of  man.  We  entered 
the  low  portal,  and  there  among  the  ruins  which  had 
fallen  about,  and  the  trailing  ivy  which  hung  in  heavy 
festoons,  we  came  to  the  single  apartment  in  the  cen- 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    175 

tre,  now  open  above  to  the  sky.  And  yet,  the  sole 
treasure  placed  in  this  tower  of  strength,  so  guarded 
and  enshrined,  was  —  a  woman's  grave.  By  some  it  is 
conjectured  to  have  been  the  wife  of  Metellus ;  by 
others,  his  daughter.  Standing  witliin  the  monument, 
we  read  the  speculations  of  Childe  Harold  on  this  sub- 
ject, which  are  some  of  the  finest  stanzas  he  has  ever 
written.  We  cannot  forbear  copying  them,  although 
they  may  be  familiar  to  many  of  our  readers. 

*'  But  who  was  she,  the  lady  of  the  dead, 

Tomb'd  in  a  palace?     Was  she  chaste  and  fair? 

Worthy  a  king's  — or  more  —  a  Roman's  bed? 

What  race  of  chiefs  and  heroes  did  she  bear? 

What  daughter  of  her  beauties  was  the  heir? 

How  lived  —  how  loved  —  how  died  she  ?    Was  she  not 

So  honor'd  —  and  conspicuously  there, 

Where  meaner  relics  must  not  dare  to  rot. 
Placed  to  commemorate  a  more  than  mortal  lot ! 

"  Perchance  she  died  in  youth :  it  may  be,  bow'd 

With  woes  far  heavier  than  the  ponderous  tomb 

That  weigh'd  upon  her  gentle  dust;  a  cloud 

Might  gather  o'er  her  beauty,  and  a  gloom 

In  her  dark  eye,  prophetic  of  the  doom 

Heaven  gives  its  favorites  —  early  death;  yet  shed 

A  sunset  charm  around  her,  and  illume 

With  hectic  light,  the  Hesperus  of  the  dead, 
Of  her  consuming  cheek  the  autumnal  leaf-like  red. 

"  Perchance  she  died  in  age  —  surviving  all, 
Charms,  kindred,  children  —  with  the  silver  gray- 
On  her  long  tresses,  which  might  yet  recall, 
It  may  be,  still  a  something  of  the  day 
When  they  were  braided,  and  her  proud  array 
And  lovely  form  were  envied,  praised,  and  e3'ed 
By  Rome  —  but  whither  would  conjecture  stray? 
Thus  much  alone  we  know  —  Metella  died, 

The  wealthiest  Roman's  wife:  behold  his  love  or  pride !  " 

But  all  this  care  has  proved  useless.     The  splendid 
sarcophagus  of  white  marble  has  long  since  been  re- 


176     THE   CHPdSTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

moved  from  its  little  chamber  so  massively  built  up,  and 
may  be  seen  standing  in  the  open  court  of  the  Farnese 
Palace,  exposed  to  the  action  of  every  storm.  And  the 
tomb  itself  has  been  devoted  to  a  purpose  far  different 
from  that  intended  by  the  builder.  "  This,"  says  Sis- 
mondi,  "  with  the  tombs  of  Adrian  and  Augustus,  be- 
came fortresses  of  banditti,  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  were  taken  by  Brancellone,  the  Bolognese  gov- 
ernor of  Rome,  who  hanged  the  marauders  from  tlie 
walls." 

Adjoining  this  "  woman's  grave  "  are  the  ruins  of  a 
fortress,  which  in  the  Middle  Ages  was  a  stronghold  in 
succession  of  the  Savelli  and  Gaetani  families.  Their 
armorial  bearings  are  still  to  be  seen  upon  the  walls, 
and  the  round  windows  of  the  Chapel  standing  above 
the  ruins  give  them  a  most  picturesque  appearance. 
In  the  valley  beneath  are  the  wide-spread  remains  of 
what  is  commonly  called  "  the  Circus  of  Caracalla." 
It  is  of  course  crumbling  into  decay,  yet  every  part 
may  still  easily  be  traced.  The  great  gate-way,  the 
high  raised  balcony  for  the  Emperor,  the  carceres  or 
cells,  in  w^hich  the  chariots  stood  previous  to  starting, 
the  spina^  or  division  through  the  centre,  around  which 
they  swept  in  the  eager  contest,  —  all  can  be  marked. 
The  course  was  about  half  a  mile  around  and  was  re- 
peated several  times,  but  it  is  evident  that  the  victory 
must  have  depended  principally  upon  the  skill  of  the 
charioteer  in  turning.  The  wall  is  now  broken  so  that 
we  easily  sprang  over  it,  and  all  is  fast  settling  down 
to  the  level  of  the  meadow.  The  high  vines  are  grow- 
ing over  it,  the  flowers  are  crushed  beneath  our  feet 
as  we  walk,  and  no  sign  of  life  meets  our  view  but  the 
green  lizards  which  sport  among  the  ruins. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.  177 


Our  last  place  of  visit  was  the  Fountain  of  Egeria, 
a  name  which  throughout  the  world  is  associated  with 
all  that  is  poetical.  Twenty-five  centuries  have  gone 
since  Numa  consecrated  this  spot,  and  many  genera- 
tions have  passed  away,  yet  it  still  continues  to  be  a 
place  of  pilgrimage.  Our  guide  led  ns  by  the  re- 
mains of  the  old  Temple  of  Bacchus,  and  around  the 
base  of  the  hill,  till  suddenly  the  grotto  opened  before 
us.  It  is  under  an  antique  arch  on»  which  the  hill 
seems  to  rest,  and  at  its  extremity  the  little  spring 
gushes  out,  and  flows  over  its  pebbly  channel  as  clear 
as  crystal,  until  it  is  lost  in  the  green  meadow  which 
stretches  away  in  front.  Around  the  grotto  are  niches 
which  once  evidently  contained  statues,  but  they  have 
long  since  gone.  One  only  —  a  recumbent  figure, 
sadly  mutilated  —  remains  above  the  spot  from  which 
the  stream  trickles  out.  Juvenal  objected  in  his  day 
to  the  marble  ornaments  and  the  art  which  had  spoiled 
the  grotto,  declaring  that  the  goddess  would  be  much 
more  honored  if  the  fountain  was  inclosed  only  with 
its  border  of  living  green  — 

"  Viridi  81  margine  clauderet  undas 
Herba." 

But  time  has  at  length  wrought  the  change  which  he 
desired.  The  stones  of  the  old  chamber  are  clothed 
with  moss  and  evergreens ;  the  Adiantum  Capillus 
waves  over  the  fountain ;  while  from  the  roof  hang 
down  long  wreaths  of  creeping  plants,  till  they  obscure 
the  entrance,  and  diffuse  a  twilight  gloom  within.  And 
when,  standing  before  this  little  shrine,  we  look  around, 
we  see  on  the  one  side  the  thick  grove,  dark  with 
shade,  in  which  Numa  is  said  to  have  met  the  goddess, 
and  on  the  other  the  sweeping  arches  of  the  Claudian 

12 


178     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME, 

aqueduct,  with  the  purple  hills  for  their  background, 
extending  far  along  the  scene.  They  stretch  over  the 
wide  Campagna,  till  they  reach  the  spot  where  once 
stood  the  vanished  palaces  of  Maecenas  and  Domitian, 
and  we  lose  sight  of  them  among  tlie  distant  mountains 
of  Albano.  Altogether,  this  is  as  poetical  a  spot  as  the 
earth  can  furnish,  nor  could  one  be  found  more  lovely 
even  among  the  Grecian  solitudes  which  Theocritus  so 
beautifully  describes.  The  Dryad  and  Nymph  have 
indeed  gone  forever,  yet,  fable  or  not,  we  cannot  help 
feeling,  as  w^e  think  of  the  legend,  — 

"  Whatsoe'er  thy  birth, 
Thou  wert  a  beautiful  thought,  and  softly  bodied  forth." 


CHAPTER   XV. 

THE    CARDINALS. INTERVIEW   WITH    CARDINAL 

MEZZOFANTI. 


HILE  the  visitor  is  wandering  among  the 
ruins  of  Rome,  he  will  sometimes  be  roused 
from  his  reveries  by  the  approach  of  a  splen- 
did carriage,  flaming  with  scarlet  and  gold, 
and  three  footmen  in  gorgeous  liveries  clustering  on 
behind,  all  contrasting  strangely  with  the  time-worn 
relics  of  former  ages,  and  the  filth  and  wretchedness 
of  the  modern  city.  That  is  the  equipage  of  a  Cardi- 
nal. Within  sits  an  old  man,  dressed  also  in  scarlet. 
That  is  his  Eminence. 

For  centuries  the  College  of  the  Cardinals  has  been, 
in  many  respects,  the  most  powerful  legislative  body  in 
Europe,  and  the  highest  object  of  ecclesiastical  ambi- 
tion. The  sons  of  the  first  monarchs  considered  the 
dignity  a  prize  worthy  of  their  aim,  and  the  Pope  could 
often  win  the  sovereign  himself  to  his  views  by  the 
bribe  of  a  Cardinal's  hat  for  one  of  his  family.  Regi- 
nald Pole,  the  last  of  the  powerful  race  of  the  Planta- 
genets,  and  one  of  the  gentlest  and  holiest  of  men,  was 
a  Cardinal,  and  since  his  death,  no  ecclesiastic  of  that 
rank  has  ever  resided  at  the  Court  of  England.  He 
was  ill  of  the  same  fever  as  his  royal  cousin.  Queen 
Mary,  and  in  their  last  hours  constant  messages  were 
passing  between  them.     When  she  expired,  foreseeing 


180    THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

the  ruin  of  his  faith,  he  expressed  his  satisfaction  at 
the  prospect  of  speedy  dissolution,  which  actually  took 
place  in  a  few  hours.  He  died,  it  has  been  beautifully 
said,  "  as  if  by  a  mysterious  instinct,  in  the  very  last 
night  whose  moon  shone  upon  the  rich  tillage-lands 
and  dusky  woodland  chases  of  Catholic  England,  still, 
for  one  night  still,  a  portion  of  the  Roman  Obedience."  ^ 
The  last  of  the  exiled  Stuarts  also  died  at  Rome  in  the 
same  office,  under  the  title  of  Cardinal  York. 

The  Cardinals  are  seventy  in  number,  this  being  the 
limit  fixed  by  Sextus  V.  in  allusion  to  the  "  seventy  dis- 
ciples of  our  Lord."  The  College,  however,  is  seldom 
full,  as  some  appointments  are  kept  in  reserve  to  meet 
emergencies.  They  are  the  Princes  of  the  Church, 
and  are  divided  into  three  ranks :  1.  Six  Cardinal 
Bishops ;  2.  Fifty  Cardinal  Priests ;  3.  Fourteen  Car- 
dinal Deacons.  The  dignity  has,  however,  now  been 
thrown  open  to  laymen,  and  the  Governor  of  Rome, 
who  is  recognized  so  often  in  the  streets  by  his  violet 
stockings  and  short  black  silk  cloak,  usually  receives  a 
Cardinal's  hat  at  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office. 
They  meet  occasionally  as  the  Consistory,  sitting  in  the 
full  dignity  of  the  purple,  with  the  Pontiff  presiding  in 
person.  This,  however,  is  a  mere  matter  of  form  to 
receive  foreign  ambassadors,  or  to  add  to  the  splendor 
of  the  Court.  Their  chief  prerogative  is  when  they 
meet  in  Conclave  to  elect  a  Pope.  This  is  a  power 
which  they  gained  in  the  eleventh  century,  under 
Nicholas  II.,  when  a  Council  conferred  on  them  the 
exclusive  right  of  voting  at  Papal  elections,  thus  set- 
ting aside  the  ancient  privilege  of  the  Roman  clergy 
and  people  to  nominate  their  Bishop.  Hildebrand, 
I  Rev  F.  W.  raber, 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    181 

afterwards  Gregory  VII.,  was  then  Cardinal  Archdea- 
con of  Rome,  the  great  minister  of  the  Pope's  reign, 
and  director  of  all  his  measures,  and  this  was  one  of  the 
steps  which  he  had  proposed  to  increase  the  power  of 
the  Papacy.  The  voice  was  indeed  the  voice  of  Nicho- 
las, but  the  hand  was  the  hand  of  Hildebrand.  For 
nine  days  after  the  Pontiff's  death  the  Cardinal  Cham- 
berlain exercises  supreme  authority,  and  even  has  the 
right  to  coin  money  in  his  o^vn  name,  and  impressed 
with  his  own  arms.  From  the  shortness  of  time  these 
pieces  are  necessarily  scarce.  One  of  them,  however, 
issued  on  the  death  of  Pius  VII.,  came  into  my  hands, 
while  in  Rome.  It  bears  the  arms,  surmounted  by  a 
Cardinal's  hat,  and  around  them  tlie  inscription, — 
"  SEDE  VACANTE  MDCCCXXiii."  On  the  niutli  day  the 
funeral  of  the  deceased  Pope  takes  place,  and  on  the 
ensuing  day  tlie  Cardinals  meet  in  secret  Conclave  to 
elect  his  successor.  There  they  remain  immured  in 
one  of  the  great  halls  of  the  Vatican  till  they  can  agree 
in  the  choice  ;  the  Senator  of  Rome,  the  Patriarchs 
and  Bishops  who  are  in  the  city,  guarding  the  different 
entrances  to  the  Conclave,  to  prevent  all  influence  and 
intrigue.  The  qualifications  of  a  candidate  are,  that  he 
shall  be  fifty-five  years  of  age,  a  Cardinal,  and  an  Ital- 
ian by  birth.  It  requires  a  vote  of  two  thirds,  and  then 
France,  Austria,  and  Spain  have  each  the  power  of 
putting  a  veto  on  one  candidate.  As  might  be  ex- 
pected, all  the  power  of  the  government  is  in  the  hands 
of  tlie  Cardinals,  and  they  divide  most  of  its  offices 
among  themselves.  Each  one  has  also  a  salary,  in 
addition  to  the  emolument  derived  from  his  post. 

At  present,  the  Sacred  College  consists  of  fifty-five 
members  —  two  named  by  Pius  VII.,  seven  by  Leo 


182     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

XII.,  forty-six  by  Gregory  XVI.  The  Dean  of  tlie 
College  is  Cardinal  Padini,  eighty-seven  years  of  age. 
Scwartzenburg  is  the  youngest  of  the  Cardinals,  being 
scarcely  thirty-six.  Sixty-two  Cardinals  have  died 
since  the  accession  of  Gregory  XVI. 

The  person  I  most  wished  to  see  in  Rome  —  I  may 
almost  say  in  Europe — was  Cardinal  Mezzofanti,  for 
his  name  is  known  through  the  world  as  one  of  the 
literary  prodigies  of  the  age.  The  son  of  an  humble 
tradesman,  he  commenced  his  early  career  as  a  libra- 
rian. His  birthplace,  as  he  mentioned  to  me  himself, 
was  Bologna.  When  an  obscure  priest  in  the  north  of 
Italy,  he  was  called  upon  to  confess  some  criminals  who 
were  to  suffer  death  the  next  day.  They  proved  to  be 
foreigners  condemned  for  piracy,  and  he  found  himself 
utterly  unable  to  hold  any  intercourse  with  them.  Over- 
whelmed with  grief  at  this  unlooked  for  impediment, 
he  retired  to  his  home,  spent  the  night  in  studying 
their  lano-uao-e,  and  the  next  morninor  confessed  them 
"in  their  own  tongue  wherein  they  were  born."  Such 
at  least  is  the  common  story  told  here,  and  his  friends 
ascribe  his  success  to  miraculous  assistance,  which  was 
afforded  him  as  a  reward  for  his  zeal  in  the  discharge 
of  his  holy  office. 

From  that  time  his  talent  was  rapidly  developed. 
His  knowledcre  of  lan^uao-es  seems  to  be  almost  intui- 
tive,  for  he  acquires  them  without  the  least  apparent 
difficulty.  At  the  age  of  thirty-six,  he  is  said  to  have 
read  twenty,  and  to  have  conversed  fluently  in  eighteen 
languages.  At  the  present  time  he  speaks  forty-two, 
or,  as  he  sometimes  sportively  says,  "  forty-two,  and  Bo- 
lognese"  — considering  his  native  language  so  curious 
a  dialect  of  the  Italian,  that  he  might  count  it  as  one. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    183 

He  at  one  time  filled  the  chair  of  Professor  of  Greek 
and  Oriental  Literature  in  the  University  of  his  native 
city,  and  his  fame  even  then  was  widely  spread  througli 
Europe.  When  the  revolt  broke  out  in  1831,  and  Bo- 
logna for  a  time  threw  off  the  Papal  rule,  Mezzofanti 
exerted  himself  so  earnestly  in  behalf  of  the  Pope,  that 
he  was  soon  afterwards  called  to  Rome,  and  rewarded 
with  an  appointment  under  Mai.  When  that  distin- 
guished scholar  was  made  a  Cardinal,  Mezzofanti  was 
raised  to  the  same  dignity.  Perhaps  the  most  lively 
account  of  him  is  that  given  by  Lord  Byron,  in  his 
"  Detached  Thoughts."  "  I  do  not  recollect,"  says  he, 
"  a  single  foreign  literary  character  that  I  wished  to  see 
twice,  except,  perhaps,  Mezzofanti,  who  was  a  prodigy 
of  language,  a  Briareus  of  the  parts  of  speech,  a  walk- 
ing library,  who  ought  to  have  lived  at  the  time  of  the 
Tower  of  Babel,  as  universal  interpreter  ;  a  real  mir- 
acle, and  without  pretension,  too.  I  tried  him  in  all  the 
languages,  of  which  I  knew  only  an  oath  or  adjuration 
of  the  gods  against  postilions,  savages,  pirates,  boatmen, 
sailors,  pilots,  gondoliers,'muleteers,  camel- drivers,  vet- 
turini,  postmasters,  horses,  and  houses,  and  everything 
in  post  I  and  he  puzzled  me  in  my  own  idiom." 

And  yet,  with  all  these  high  qualifications,  there  is 
a  modesty  about  Cardinal  Mezzofanti,  which  shrinks 
from  anything  like  praise.  When  complimented  on  the 
subject  of  his  acquirements,  he  sometimes  answers,  "  Do 
not  mention  it :  I  am  only  a  dictionary  badly  bound." 
A  Russian  princess,  a  short  time  ago,  having  occasion 
to  send  him  a  note,  he  replied  at  once  in  her  own  lan- 
guage, and  in  terms  so  perfectly  correct  and  idiomatic, 
that  she  could  not  help  responding,  complimenting  him 
on  the  manner  in  which  he  wrote  Russian.     He  imme- 


184     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

diately  answered  it,  staling  "  that  he  was  sorry  he  could 
not  return  the  compliment  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
she  wrote  Russian." 

I  had  a  letter  of  introduction  to  him,  and  the  very 
last  morning  I  was  in  Rome,  feeling  that  I  should  not 
be  satisfied  to  depart  without  seeing  him,  I  determined 
to  present  it.  Upon  calling  at  his  palace,  I  found  sev- 
eral servants  in  the  anteroom,  to  one  of  whom  I  gave 
my  letter  and  card.  He  entered  with  them,  and  in  a 
moment  the  Cardinal's  secretary  came  out  to  conduct 
me  to  him.  After  passing  through  a  long  suite  of 
rooms,  I  w^as  ushered  into  one  where  I  found  his  Emi- 
nence,who,  advancing  cordially,  invited  me  to  walk  into 
his  library.  He  is  a  small,  lively  looking  man,  appar- 
ently over  seventy.  He  speaks  English  with  a  slight 
foreign  accent,  yet  remarkably  correct.  Indeed,  I 
never  before  met  with  a  foreigner  who  could  talk  for 
ten  minutes  without  using  some  word  with  a  shade  of 
meaning  not  exactly  right ;  yet  in  the  long  conversation 
I  had  with  the  Cardinal,  I  detected  nothino-  like  this. 
He  did  not  use  a  single  expression  or  word  in  any  way 
which  was  not  strictly  and  idiomatically  correct.^  He 
converses  too  without  the  slightest  hesitation,  never  be- 
ing at  the  least  loss  for  the  proper  phrase. 

In  talking  about  him  some  time  before  to  an  ecclesi- 
astic, I  quoted  Lady  Blessington's  remark,  "  that  she 
did  not  believe  he  had  made  much  progress  in  the  liter- 

1  An  American  gentleman  who  has  known  him  for  many  years,  told  me 
he  called  on  him  when  he  was  Censor  of  the  Press  at  Bologna,  in  com- 
pany with  an  English  naval  captain,  some  of  whose  books,  being  on  the 
prohibited  list,  had  been  seized  at  the  Ctistom-house.  The  captain  was  in 
a  towering  rage,  and  Mezzofanti,  in  the  course  of  his  explanations,  made 
use  of  Ihe  expression,  —  "I  enter  into  your  feelings."  Nine  foreigners  out 
of  ten,  in  attempting  to  convey  this  idea,  would  have  been  just  as  likely 
to  say,  —  "  I  walk  into  your  feelings." 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    185 

ature  of  those  forty-two  languages,  but  was  rather  like 
a  man  who  spent  his  time  in  manufacturing  keys  to  pal- 
aces, which  he  had  not  time  to  enter,"  —  and  I  inquired 
whether  this  was  true.  "  Try  him,"  said  he,  laughing ; 
and  having  now  the  opportunity,  I  endeavored  to  do  so. 
I  led  him,  therefore,  to  talk  of  Lord  Byron  and  his 
works,  and  then  of  English  literature  generally.  He 
gave  me,  in  the  course  of  his  conversation,  quite  a  dis- 
cussion on  the  question,  Which  was  the  golden  period 
of  the  English  language  ?  and  of  course  fixed  on  the 
days  of  Addison.  He  drew  a  comparison  between  the 
characteristics  of  the  French,  Italian,  and  Spanish  lan- 
guages, spoke  of  Lockhart's  translations  from  the  Span- 
ish, and  incidentally  referred  to  various  other  English 
writers.  He  then  went  on  to  speak  of  American  liter- 
ature, and  paid  high  compliments  to  the  pure  style  of 
some  of  our  best  writers.  He  expressed  the  opinion 
that  with  many  it  had  been  evidently  formed  by  a  care- 
ful study  of  the  old  authors  —  those  "  wells  of  English 
undefiled  "  —  and  that  in  the  last  fifty  years  we  had  im- 
ported fewer  foreign  words  than  had  been  done  in  Eng- 
land. He  spoke  very  warmly  of  the  works  of  Mr.  Feni- 
more  Cooper,  whose  name,  by  the  way,  is  better  known 
on  the  Continent  than  that  of  any  other  American  writer. 
In  referring  to  our  Indian  languages,  he  remarked 
that  the  only  one  with  which  he  was  well  acquainted 
was  the  Algonquin,  although  he  knew  something  of  the 
Chippewa  and  the  Delaware,  and  asked  whether  I  un- 
derstood Algonquin  ?  I  instantly  disowned  any  knowl- 
edge of  the  literature  of  that  respectable  tribe  of  sav- 
ages, for  I  was  afraid  the  next  thing  would  be  a  propo- 
sal that  we  should  continue  the  conversation  in  their 
mellifluous  tongue.     He  learned  it  from  an  Algonquin 


186     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME, 

missionary,  who  returned  to  Rome,  and  lived  just  long 
enougli  to  enable  the  Cardinal  to  begin  the  study.  He 
had  read  the  works  of  Mr.  Duponceau  of  Philadelphia 
on  the  subject  of  Indian  languages,  and  spoke  very 
highly  of  them. 

And  yet,  all  this  conversation  by  no  means  satisfied 
me  as  to  the  depth  of  the  Cardinal's  literary  acquire- 
ments. There  was  nothinor  said  which  save  evi- 
dence  of  more  than  a  superficial  acquaintance  with 
English  literature — the  kind  of  knowledge  which  passes 
current  in  society,  and  which  is  necessarily  picked  up 
by  one  who  meets  so  often  with  cultivated  people  of 
that  country.  His  acquirements  in  words  are  certainly 
wonderful,  but  I  could  not  help  asking  myself  their 
use.  I  have  never  yet  heard  of  their  being  of  any 
practical  benefit  to  the  world,  daring  the  long  life  of 
their  possessor.  He  has  never  displayed  anything  phil- 
osophical in  his  character  of  mind,  none  of  that  power 
of  combination  which  enables  Schlegel  to  excel  in  all 
questions  of  philology,  and  gives  him  a  talent  for  dis- 
criminating and  a  power  of  handling  the  resources  of 
a  language,  which  have  never  been  surpassed.  With 
Mezzofanti,  on  the  contrary,  everything  seems  to  be  in 
detail,  and  therefore  he  turns  it  to  no  valuable  purpose. 

After  having  made  a  visit  which  far  exceeded  what 
the  bounds  of  etiquette  would  allow,  I  ftdt  obliged  to 
rise,  with  the  apology,  "  that  I  had  already  intruded 
too  long  upon  the  time  of  his  Eminence  ;  "  but  he  as- 
sured me,  "  This  was  not  the  case  —  and  that  he  only 
regretted,  as  I  was  about  to  leave  Rome  immediately, 
our  first  interview  was  necessarily  our  last."  He  in- 
quired the  ages  of  my  children,  and  said,  "  In  five  or  six 
years  they  will  be  old  enough  to  visit  Italy,  and  then 


THIS   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    18T 

I  trust  you  will  return  to  Rome,  but  "  —  and  his  voice 
changed —  "  you  will  not  find  me  here  :  I  am  too  old 
to  hope  for  it."  When  I  left  the  library,  he  insisted  on 
accompanying  me  through  the  long  suite  of  rooms  to 
the  last,  in  which  was  his  secretary —  and  gave  me  his 
parting  blessing,  with  the  wish,  "  that  I  might  have  a 
pleasant  journey  to  Naples."  When  half-way  across 
the  apartment,  I  heard  his  voice,  and  turning  round, 
saw  him  still  standing  in  the  threshold,  stretching  out 
his  hands  to  me,  and  adding  to  his  last  sentence  —  "  and 
a  pleasant  voyage  home  afterwards." 

In  the  narrow  compass  of  this  chapter,  I  can  give 
but  a  few  of  the  points  on  which  he  touched  in  our 
lonoj  conversation  —  matters  of  faith  relatinor  to  his 
Church  —  information  about  the  Propaganda,  Cardinals 
Weld  and  Acton,  and  Bishop  Wiseman  —  inquiries 
about  the  attention  to  Greek  and  Latin  in  our  colleges 
—  and  questions  about  the  progress  of  his  Church  in 
America.  Still  less  can  I  give  any  idea  on  paper,  of 
the  simplicity  and  kindness  of  manner  which  so  much 
charmed  me,  in  one  whose  reputation  is  unequaled  in 
the  world,  and  who  seems  so  little  affected  by  the 
princely  dignity  of  Cardinal  with  which  he  has  been 
invested.  We  parted,  never  probably  to  see  each 
other  again  in  this  world,  yet  long  shall  I  remember 
the  old  Cardinal's  friendly  smile  ;  and  I  trust  we  may 
meet  again  in  that  better  land  where  all  differences  are 
forgotten,  and  our  Father  welcomes  as  His  children  all 
those  who  loved  Him  in  sincerity  and  truth,  while  toil- 
ing onward  through  the  shadows  of  this  lower  life. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE    PROTESTANT    BURIAIy-GROUND. 

HERE  are  few  spots  in  Rome  which  the 
stranger  will  naturally  visit  with  so  much 
interest  as  the  Protestant  Burial-ground. 
At  a  distance  from  his  own  home,  he  knows 
not  but  that  the  hand  of  death  may  here  arrest  him, 
and  should  this  be  the  case,  within  these  walls  he  must 
find  his  resting-place.  But  wherever  he  might  wander 
through  the  w^ide  world,  he  could  not  find  a  more 
lovely  spot  in  which  to  lie  down  for  his  long,  last  sleep. 
We  rode  out  to  it  on  one  of  those  bright  and  balmy 
days,  which  in  an  Italian  atmosphere  remind  us  of  the 
first  warm  days  of  our  own  spring.  Just  by  the  Porta 
San  Paolo  rises  a  lofty  pyramid,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  in  height,  built  of  slabs  of  white  Carrara 
marble,  but  now  perfectly  black  with  age.  It  is  the 
noble  sepulchre  of  Caius  Cestius,  erected  in  accordance 
with  the  directions  of  his  will  in  the  ao;e  of  Auojustus. 
It  is  of  solid  masonry,  except  the  little  chamber  within, 
which  once  contained  his  sarcophagus.  There  was 
nothinir  about  it  which  the  hand  of  violence  could 
rifle ;  nothing  to  tempt  cupidity ;  no  statues  or  carv- 
ings which  could  be  removed  to  the  museums ;  and 
therefore  it  has  been  permitted  to  remain  uninjured. 
Its  very  form  —  adopted  by  the  ancients  in  imitation 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    189 

of  the  flames  that  rose  from  the  funeral  pyres  —  was 
well  calculated  to  resist  the  influence  of  the  weather. 
In  the  days  of  Aurelian  it  was  built  into  the  city  walls, 
to  prevent  its  being  used  as  a  fortress  by  any  attacking 
enemy,  and  this  aided  in  securing  its  preservation. 
Except,  therefore,  in  the  change  of  color,  and  in  the 
ivy  which  has  trailed  around  it,  and  forced  its  roots 
into  the  crevices  of  the  stones,  it  is  but  little  altered 
from  what  it  appeared  eighteen  centuries  ago.  Beneath 
it  is  the  burial-ground,  on  the  slope  of  the  hill  looking 
towards  "  the  Eternal  City,"  and  in  the  direction  of  the 
East,  so  that  the  sun's  first  rays  rest  upon  it,  and  there 
they  spread  their  warmth,  till  the  dreariness  of  winter 
is  unknown  on  this  hallowed  spot.  There  are  a  hun- 
dred graves  scattered  among  the  trees,  and  the  huge 
pyramid  towers  over  them,  as  if  in  mockery  of  the 
humble  monuments  on  which  it  looks  down. 

In  the  very  atmosphere  of  Rome  there  is  something 
which  induces  pensiveness.  It  is  a  characteristic,  in- 
deed, o^  these  southern  climes.  The  calmness  of  the 
air  is  unbroken  by  the  lightest  zephyr ;  the  blades  of 
grass  are  motionless  ;  the  leaves  rustle  not,  and  there 
seems  to  be  a  deep  sleep  resting  on  everything.  You 
are  insensibly  led  to  musing,  and  we  felt  this  influence 
when  we  stood  in  silence  among  these  graves.  At  a 
distance  we  saw  those  grand  and  solemn  ruins  which 
centuries  had  bequeathed  to  us,  while  around  were  the 
monuments  of  those  who  were  all  gathered  from  other 
lands,  not  one  of  whom  but  was  mingling  his  dust  with 
the  soil  of  a  country  which  was  not  his.  We  read 
the  inscriptions,  and  they  appealed  to  us  in  our  lan- 
guage, through  its  medium  claiming  with  us  a  nearer 
brotherhood  than  with  tlic  stran<rers  who  dwelt  around. 


190     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

And  even  the  tomb  of  Cestius,  that  old  majestic  pile, 
has  something  also  in  common  with  the  sleepers  there. 
"It  is  itself,"  says  Rogers,  "a  stranger.  It  has  stood 
there  till  the  language  spoken  about  it  has  changed ; 
and  the  shepherd  born  at  its  foot  can  read  its  inscrip- 
tion no  longer." 

There  are  two  inclosures  for  this  cemetery.  We 
entered  the  first,  and  were  struck  at  once  with  its  air 
of  romantic  beauty.  It  is  formed  in  terraces  which 
mount  up,  one  above  the  other,  to  the  tomb  of  the  old 
Roman,  and  the  massive  walls  and  battlements  of  the 
ancient  city.  The  walks  were  Hned  with  flowers,  which 
in  this  "divinest  climate"  —  as  Shelley  called  it  — 
spring  up  of  themselves,  and  odoriferous  shrubs  which 
fill  the  air  with  their  rich  perfume.  It  seems  as  if  the 
grave  was  robbed  of  half  its  gloominess,  when  we  know 
that  the  balmy  airs  of  spring  will  be  thus  ever  breathed 
about  us,  and  its  rich  drapery  cover  our  sepulchres. 
Very  many  of  these  tombs  are  those  of  Germans,  and 
among  them  one  particularly  beautiful,  of  an  artist, 
having  carved  upon  it,  in  has-7'eUef,  his  brush  and 
palette  wreathed  with  poppies.  We  were  surprised 
to  see  how  few  of  the  English  were  buried  here, 
when  so  many  come  abroad  for  health,  and  often  end 
their  days  in  this  city.  Most  of  those  who  are  in- 
terred in  this  spot  for  a  time,  are  finally  removed  to 
their  own  country,  for  there  is  no  nation  among  whom 
there  still  lingers  so  much  of  that  old  desire  to  mingle 
their  dust  with  that  of  the  friends  they  have  known  and 
loved,  and  which  made  the  ancient  patriarch  bequeath 
to  his  son  the  direction,  —  "I  will  lie  with  my  fathers ; 
bury  me  in  their  burying-place."  Among  all  the  forms, 
indeed,  of  oriental  benediction,  there  is  none  moie  ex- 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     191 

pressive  than  the  wish,  —  "  May  you  die  among  your 
kindred ! " 

On  the  highest  terrace  we  found  the  grave  of  an 
American,  Edward  Abeel,  of  New  York.  Half-way 
up  the  gentle  declivity  are  the  monuments  of  several 
more  of  our  countrymen  :  Mr.  John  Hone,  and  William 
Henry  Elliot,  both  of  New  York,  and  young  Deveaux, 
of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  On  the  tomb  of  the 
latter,  who  was  one  of  the  most  promising  artists  we 
had  in  Italy,  was  a  striking  bas-relief  portrait,  executed 
by  his  friend  and  countryman.  Brown,  in  whose  studio 
I  had  also  seen  a  most  admirable  bust.  The  fate  of 
this  young  man  was  a  melancholy  one,  sacrificed  as  he 
was  to  the  jealous  police  regulations  of  the  country. 
Travelling  in  Upper  Italy,  he  reached  Bologna,  where 
some  late  disturbances  had  made  the  authorities  pecul- 
iarly vigilant.  There  being  some  trifling  informality 
about  his  passport,  it  was  thrown  back  to  him,  and  he 
was  ordered  at  once  to  quit  the  city.  The  day  was 
closing,  but  he  was  obliged  to  hire  the  first  vehicle  he 
could  procure,  and  leaving  his  baggage  behind  him, 
ride  all  night.  He  skirted  the  Apennines,  and  avoid- 
ing the  larger  towns,  managed  to  pass  through  the 
country,  and  at  length  in  some  way  get  into  Rome. 
The  first  night,  however,  a  storm  came  on, — the 
wagon  was  an  open  one,  —  and  being  without  any 
change  of  clothes,  he  was  obliged  to  remain  in  that 
state  for  several  days.  The  consequence  was,  a  cold, 
which  fastened  on  his  lungs,  and,  after  lingering  some 
months,  he  died  at  Rome  in  April  last.  During  his 
illness  every  possible  attempt  was  made  to  attach  him 
to  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  Rev.  Pierce  Conelley, 
once  a  clergyman  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 


192     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

States,  but  who  some  years  ago  abjured  the  true  Catho* 
lie  faith,  was  unceasing  in  his  attentions.  An  English 
lady  also,  another  proselyte,  was  exceedingly  busy  in 
her  efforts.  Among  other  schemes  which  she  proposed 
in  her  mistaken  benevolence  was,  that  II  Santissimo 
Bambino  —  the  little  image  in  the  Church  of  Ara  Coeli, 
which  we  have  described  in  a  former  chapter —  should 
be  brought  to  his  sick  room,  and  laid  upon  the  bed. 
She  certified  that,  in  the  case  of  a  friend  in  the  last 
stage  of  consumption,  this  process  had  produced  an  en- 
tire restoration  to  health.  But  poor  Deveaux  had  not 
faith  enough.  He  coiild  not  forget  the  truer  teachings 
of  his  youth,  and  the  lessons  he  had  learned  in  his  dis- 
tant home.  His  nurse  put  a  consecrated  medal  under 
his  pillow,  but  he  had  so  little  trust  in  the  promised 
cure  it  was  to  produce,  that  he  presented  it  to  a  friend 
who  happened  to  visit  him. 

There  were  better  instructions,  however,  at  hand, 
and  he  was  not  destined  to  die  without  having  his  last 
hours  cheered  by  the  pure  truths  of  the  Gospel.  Provi- 
dentially, he  had  become  acquainted  with  a  clergyman 
of  our  Church  from  his  own  land,^  who  became  deeply 
interested  in  his  situation,  visited  him  often,  and  before 
his  death  administered  to  him  the  Holy  Communion. 

The  most  beautiful  monument  in  the  cemetery  is 
that  erected  to  the  memory  of  Miss  Bathurst,  whose 
melancholy  end  produced  so  strong  a  sensation  some 
years  ago.  Her  father,  a  short  time  before,  while  en- 
gaged in  some  diplomatic  mission  in  Austria,  had  sud- 
denly disappeared,  and  his  fate  was  never  known.  The 
daughter,  a  beautiful  and  accomplished  girl,  was  riding 

1  Rev.  Henry  L.  Storrs,  Rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  Yonkers,  Westches- 
ter County,  New  York. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROMe.    l^F 

an  the  banks  of  the  Tiber  with  her  uncle,  Lord  A^J^ner, 
and  the  Duke  de  Lavel  Montmorenci,  when  attempting 
to  turn  her  horse,  he  backed  into  the  river,  and  she  was 
swept  away  by  the  current.  The  groom,  who  alone 
could  swim,  had  just  been  sent  back  on  some  errand, 
and  her  friends  were  forced  to  see  her  sink  without  the 
power  of  rescuing  her.  Several  months  elapsed  before 
her  body  could  be  recovered,  and  laid  to  its  rest  in  this 
sweet  spot.  On  her  tomb  is  sculptured  a  beautiful  rep- 
resentation (executed  by  Westmacott)  of  an  angel  re- 
ceivmg  her  from  the  waves. 

As  we  passed  along,  we  had  looked  in  vain  for  the 
grave  of  Shelley,  and  were  at  last  obliged  to  ask  the 
custode.  He  led  us  to  the  very  top  of  the  terrace,  and 
there,  close  under  the  old  wall,  is  a  flat  slab,  which 
marks  the  resting-place  of  this  gifted  yet  unfortunate 
poet.  It  bears  the  inscription,  —  "  Percy  Bysshe  Shel- 
ley, Cor  Cordium,  Natus  iv.  Aug.  mdccxcii.,  obiit  viii. 

Jul.  MDCCCXXII. 

*'  Xolhing  of  him  that  doth  fade 
]Jut  doth  suffer  a  sea  change 
Into  something  rich  and  strange." 

His  tombstone  lies  low  upon  the  ground;  the  wild- 
flowers  cluster  around,  and  the  tall  grass  waves  above 
it,  so  that  we  had  to  put  them  one  side  to  read  the  epi- 
taph. We  stood  by  it  for  a  few  moments,  and  thought 
of  his  strange  eventful  history,  his  brilliant  talents,  his 
high-souled,  lofty  honor,  all  ruined  and  rendered  use- 
less by  that  fearful  perversion  of  principle,  which  left 
him  without  chart  or  compass  to  guide  him  on  life's 
stormy  sea.  Then  came  back  to  remembrance  — 
though  years  have  passed  since  we  read  it  —  the 
strange   account  which  Trelawney  has  given  of  the 


194     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

burning  of  poor  Shelley's  remains  in  the  Gulf  of 
Spezzia,  when  he  and  Lord  Byron  reared  the  funeral 
pile,  which,  as  far  as  circumstances  would  allow,  was 
conformed  to  the  customs  of  antiquity.  Frankincense 
and  wine  were  poured  upon  the  wood,  and  for  leagues 
around  the  extraordinary  beauty  of  the  flame  was  no- 
ticed, as  it  shot  high  into  the  air,  illuminating  the  night. 
And  when  it  had  gone  down,  the  friends  who  watched 
found  that  all  had  been  reduced  to  ashes  but  the  heart 
alone,  on  which  the  fire  seemed  to  have  no  power.  We 
looked  around,  and  at  a  distance  towered  high  the  mas- 
sive ruins  of  the  Baths  of  Caracalla,  among  which  he 
was  accustomed  to  wander  when  writing  his  "  Prome- 
theus Unbound,"  a  work  so  lofty  in  its  tone,  so  pene- 
trated with  the  spirit  of  the  old  Grecian  tragedies,  that, 
widely  different  as  we  know  it  to  be  in  plot,  it  still 
seems  almost  to  compensate  us  for  the  lost  drama  of 
iEschylus,  the  name  of  which  it  has  borrowed. 

Are  there  such  things  as  presentiments,  when  the 
spirit  reaches  forward  into  the  shadowy  future,  and  the 
affections  in  anticipation  gather  around  scenes  in  which 
one  day  they  are  to  have  a  deeper  interest  ?  It  seems 
to  have  been  the  case  with  Shelley,  as  he  loved  to 
linger  about  this  spot,  and  so  often  recorded  his  ad- 
miration of  what  was  to  be  his  final  resting-place. 
When  he  first  visited  Rome,  he  spoke  of  it  as  "  the 
most  beautiful  and  solemn  cemetery  he  ever  beheld ;  " 
and  adds,  "  To  see  the  sun  shining  on  its  bright  grass, 
fresh,  when  we  first  saw  it,  with  the  autumnal  dews, 
and  hear  the  whispering  of  the  winds  among  the  leaves 
of  the  trees  which  have  overgrown  the  tomb  of  Ces- 
tius,  and  the  soil  which  is  stirring  in  the  sun-warm 
earth,  and  to  mark  the  tombs,  mostly  of  women  and 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    195 

young  people  wlio  were  buried  there,  one  might,  if  one 
were  to  die,  desire  the  sleep  they  seem  to  sleep." 
About  a  year  before  his  own  death,  the  place  had  ac- 
quired an  additional  interest  in  his  eyes,  for  there  his 
friend  Keats  rested,  "  after  life's  fitful  fever."  In  his 
lament  over  him,  Shelley  says,  — 

"  Go  thou  to  Rome,  —  at  once  the  Paradise, 

The  grave,  the  city,  and  the  wilderness; 

And  where  its  wrecks  like  shatter'd  mountains  rise, 

And  flowering  weeds,  and  fragrant  copses,  dress 

The  bones  of  Desolation's  nakedness, 

Pass,  till  the  Spirit  of  the  spot  shall  lead 

Thy  footsteps  to  a  slope  of  green  access. 

Where,  like  an  infant's  smile  over  the  dead, 
A  light  of  laughing  flowers  along  the  grass  is  spread. 

"  And  gray  walls  moulder  round,  on  which  dull  Time 

Feeds,  like  slow  fire  upon  a  hoary  brand; 

And  one  keen  pyramid  with  wedge  sublime, 

Pavilioning  the  dust  of  him  who  plann'd 

This  refuge  for  his  memon^,  doth  stand 

Like  flame  transform'd  to  marble;  and  beneath, 

A  field  is  spread,  on  which  a  newer  band 

Have  pitch'd  in  Heaven's  smile  their  camp  of  death, 
Welcoming  him  we  lose  with  scarce  extinguish'd  breath. 

"  Here  pause:  these  graves  are  all  too  young  as  yet 
To  have  outgrown  the  sorrows  which  consign'd 
Its  charge  to  each." 

And  then,  as  if  the  shadows  of  the  grave  he  was  ap- 
proaching already  rested  on  his  spirit,  he  adds,  — 

"  From  the  world's  bitter  wmd 
Seek  shelter  in  the  shadow  of  the  tomb. 
What  Adonais  is,  why  fear  we  to  become  ? 

....    Die, 
If  thou  wouldst  be  with  that  which  thou  dost  seek ! 
Follow  where  all  is  fled  —  Rome's  azure  sky. 
Flowers,  ruins,  statues,  music,  words  are  weak 
The  glory  they  transfuse  with  fitting  truth  to  speak. 

"  Why  linger,  why  turn  back,  why  shrink,  my  heart  ? 
Thy  hopes  are  gone  before :  from  all  things  here 


196     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

They  have  departed ;  ihou  shouldst  now  depart ! 
A  light  is  pass'd  from  the  revolving  year, 
And  man,  and  woman ;  and  what  still  is  dear 
Attracts  to  crush,  repels  to  make  thee  wither. 
The  soft  sky  smiles  — the  low  wind  whispers  near; 
'Tis  Adonais  calls!  oh,  hasten  hither, 
No  more  let  Life  divide  what  Death  can  join  together." 

Near  this  declivity  is  another  inclosure,  not  as  beau- 
tifully situated  as  the  first,  but  only  a  few  yards  distant. 
The  grave  of  Keats  is  near  the  entrance.  His  monu- 
ment is  of  white  marble,  bearing  a  lyre  in  hasso  relievo^ 
and  under  it  this  inscription,  — 

This  grave 

contains  all  that  was  mortal 

of  a 

YOUNG  ENGLISH  POET, 

who, 

on  his  death-bed 

in  the  bitterness  of  his  heart 

at  the  malicious  power  of  his  enemies, 

desired 

these  words  to  be  engraven  on  his  tombstone  — 

HERE  LIES  ONE 
WHOSE  NAME   WAS  WRIT  IN  WATER. 

Feb.  24th,  1821. 

Poor  Keats  !  his  history  is  the  most  melancholy  one 
written  in  the  annals  of  literature.  The  early  prom- 
ise was  most  brilliant ;  but  he  was  poor  and  friendless, 
and  as  his  opinions  differed  from  those  of  the  "  Quar- 
terly," on  the  publication  of  his  "Endymion,"  the  edi- 
tor, Gifford,  attacked  him  with  all  the  savage  bitterness 
in  his  power,  pouring  out  his  malice  on  the  unoffending 
victim,  because  he  knew  the  object  of  his  cruelty  could 
not  retaliate.  Having  naturally  a  feeble  constitution, 
and  a  mind  keenly  sensitive,  the  blow  seemed  to  crush 
him,  and  he  told  a  friend,  with  tears,  that  "  his  heart 
was  breaking."     He  was  persuaded  to  try  the  mild  air 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    197 

of  Italy,  but  he  went  there  only  to  die.  Some  time  be- 
fore that  event  took  place,  he  perceived  its  approach, 
and  remarked  that  he  "  felt  the  flowers  growing  over 
him."  We  feel,  when  we  think  of  his  story,  that  Shel- 
ley's address  to  Gifford,  in  the  preface  to  "  Adonais," 
is  not  one  whit  too  severe,  —  "Miserable  man!  you, 
one  of  the  meanest,  have  wantonly  defaced  one  of  the 
noblest  specimens  of  the  workmanship  of  God.  Nor 
shall  it  be  your  excuse,  that,  murderer  as  you  are,  you 
have  spoken  daggers,  but  used  none." 

But  Keats  will  never  be  forgotten  while  the  English 
language  exists.  He  was,  indeed,  like  Koemer,  of  Ger- 
many, cut  off  too  early  to  show  any  maturity  of  power ; 
but  "  Endymion,"  and  "  Lamia,"  and  "  Isabella,"  are 
rich  in  gems  of  thought,  and  display  on  every  page  the 
wealth  of  genius.  Shelley's  splendid  dirge  would 
alone  be  sufficient  to  preserve  his  memory,  and  the 
estimate  he  formed  of  his  brother  poet  maybe  gathered 
from  those  noble  stanzas,  in  which,  in  imitation  of  a 
sublime  scene  in  the  prophet  Isaiah,  he  represents  the 
gifted  of  other  days  rising  to  greet  the  spmt  of  the 
youthful  bard,  — 

"  The  inheritors  of  unfulfill'd  renown 

Hose  from  their  thrones  built  beyond  mortal  thought, 

Far  in  the  Unapparent.     Chatterton 

Rose  pale,  his  solemn  agony  had  not 

Yet  faded  from  him;  Sydney,  as  he  fought 

And  as  he  fell,  and  as  he  lived  and  loved, 

Sublimely  mild,  a  spirit  without  spot, 

Arose;  and  Lucan, by  his  death  approved; 
Oblivion,  as  they  rose,  shrank  like  a  thing  reproved. 

"  And  many  more,  whose  names  on  earth  are  dark, 
But  whose  transmitted  effluence  cannot  die 
So  long  as  fire  outlives  the  parent  spark. 
Rose,  robed  in  dazzling  immortality. 
*  Thou  art  become  as  one  of  us,'  they  cry, 


198   THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

'  It  was  for  thee  yon  kingless  sphere  has  long 
Swung  blind  in  unascended  majesty, 
Silent  alone  amid  a  heaven  of  song: 
Assume  thy  winged  throne,  thou  Vesper  of  our  throng! ' " 

Near  the  grave  of  Keats  is  that  of  Dr.  Bell,  whoso 
"  Observations  on  the  Fine  Arts  in  Italy  "  have  long 
been  a  text-book  for  all  who  visit  that  country ;  and 
also  the  monument  of  the  Rev.  Augustus  Wm.  Hare, 
of  Oxford,  whose  volume  of  sermons,  published  since 
his  death,  has  rendered  his  name  well  known  to 
Churchmen  in  America  as  well  as  in  England.  He 
seems  to  have  ended  his  life  in  the  place  where  it  was 
begun,  having  been  bom  —  the  inscription  tells  us  — 
in  Rome  in  1792,  and  having  died  there  in  1834. 
There  is  but  one  American  buried  here  —  Mr.  Daniel 
Remsen,  of  New  York. 

We  lingered  in  this  lovely  place  until  the  increasing 
dampness,  showing  that  the  dews  of  evening  were  fall- 
ing, warned  us  to  return  home.  The  sun  had  begun 
to  sink  in  the  west,  and  the  massive  tomb  of  Cestius 
threw  its  broad  shadow  over  the  burying-ground,  as 
Ave  turned  away  from  it.  How  many  hearts  in  distant 
lands  are  sorrowing  for  those  who  are  so  quietly  sleep- 
ing here  !  Beautiful  spot !  which  never  knows  the  chill 
of  winter,  and  where  Nature  herself  is  ever  wreathing 
with  living  flowers  the  graves  of  those  whose  homes 
and  friends  are  far  away,  well  may  the  heart  yearn  to- 
wards thee,  and  the  living  feel,  that  thus  they  should 
like  to  rest ! 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  PALACES  OF  ROME. 

HE  palaces  of  Rome  may  well  be  illustrated 
by  the  same  comparison  which  Faber  uses 
with  regard  to  those  of  Genoa ;  "  old  pages 
of  history  torn  from  some  illuminated  man- 
uscript of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  whereon  the  illumina- 
tions are  well-nigh  faded  or  effaced,  by  time  and  vio- 
lence." Historically  many  of  them  are  interesting, 
bearinc:  the  names  of  the  noblest  families  of  mediaeval 
days,  by  whose  descendants  they  are  still  occupied. 
Others  remind  us  only  of  the  nepotism  of  the  Popes, 
whose  first  care  sometimes  was  to  ennoble  their  neph- 
ews, and  then  their  short  reigns  were  spent  in  buildmg 
up  the  power  of  these  newly  risen  houses,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  Church  and  country.  And  when  in  addi- 
tion to  this,  we  find  some  of  them,  like  the  Famese, 
erecting  their  palaces  by  despoiling  the  Coliseum  and 
other  monuments  of  ancient  Rome,  we  cannot  look 
without  indignation  on  the  sacrilege  of  these  upstart 
princes. 

The  only  palaces,  if  we  except  the  modern  ones  of 
the  Torlonia  family,  which  are  kept  up  with  any  de- 
gree of  splendor,  are  those  of  the  Doria  and  Borghese. 
For  the  general  appearance  of  the  rest,  one  description 
will  answer.     You  find  a  vast  pile  of  buildings,  often 


200     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

running  round  the  four  sides  of  a  square,  with  the  quad- 
rangle in  the  centre  surrounded  by  a  marble  colonnade. 
Entering  the  large  arched  gateway,  some  old  servitors 
are  lounging  about,  bearing  in  their  appearance  evi- 
dences of  their  master's  dilapidated  fortunes.  One  of 
them  takes  you  in  charge  and  commences  the  ordinary 
routine  of  siocht-seeing.  You  first  enter  an  immense 
hall,  often  hung  round  with  the  largest  and  worst  pic- 
tures of  the  palace,  and  on  one  side  a  throne  with  a 
high  velvet  canopy,  covered  with  the  armorial  bearings 
of  the  family.  From  this  elevated  seat,  until  feudal 
privileges  were  abolished,  the  prince  was  accustomed 
to  administer  justice.  You  follow  your  guide  on,  up 
marble  staircases,  and  over  mosaic  floors,  till  you  come 
to  long  suites  of  rooms,  the  walls  covered  with  paint- 
ings while  here  and  there  antique  statues  are  dispersed 
about,  and  richly  inlaid  cabinets  stand  against  the 
sides.  Through  these  you  wander,  gazing  on  the 
works  of  art,  until  you  have  gone  round  the  square, 
and  find  yourself  in  the  hall  from  which  you  set  out. 

It  would  be  useless  to  attempt  describing  many  of 
these  collections,  for  while  a  catalogue  of  paintings 
might  recall  to  my  mind  the  beautiful  forms  on  which 
I  have  gazed  hour  after  hour,  it  could  awaken  no  cor- 
responding feeling  in  the  mind  of  the  reader.  Some 
of  them  are  celebrated  for  one  or  two  remarkable 
pictures,  while  the  rest  of  the  collection  is  made  up  of 
inferior  ones  and  old  family  portraits.  Such  is  the 
Palazzo  Rospigliosi^  where  in  the  cassino  of  the  garden 
is  the  far-famed  "  Aurora  "  by  Guido,  so  many  copies 
of  which  have  been  brought  to  our  own  country.  It 
is  a  large  fresco  on  the  ceiling.  Around  the  chariot 
of  the  Sun   are  seen  female   figures  advancing  most 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    201 

gracefully  hand  in  hand,  to  typify  the  Hours.  They  are 
decked  in  gay  and  flowing  drapery,  —  "  pictis  incinctaB 
vestibus  Horse," — while  before  them  is  Aurora,  scatter- 
ing flowers.  It  is  called  Guido's  most  brilliant  perfor- 
mance, and  certainly  nothing  could  exceed  the  glory 
he  has  spread  around  the  chariot  of  the  God  of  Day, 
combining  in  one  matchless  performance  all  the  beau- 
tiful features  in  which  the  poets  have  arrayed  the 
Morning.  In  the  Villa  Lodovui^  which  is  without  the 
city  walls,  occupying  a  part  of  Sallust's  gardens,  is  the 
rival  picture,  the  "  Aurora  "  of  Guercino.  The  god- 
dess is  in  her  car  drawn  by  fiery  horses,  while  the 
shades  of  Night  appear  to  be  vanishing  at  her  approach. 
Tithon,  whose  couch  she  had  just  quitted,  is  seen  half- 
awake,  while  the  Morning  Star,  as  a  winged  Genius 
bearing  a  torch,  is  following  her  course,  The  Hours, 
unlike  those  of  Guido,  are  represented  as  infants, 
fluttering  before  her  and  extinguishing  the  stars  —  an 
idea  perhaps  borrowed  from  Statins,  who  describes 
Aurora  as  chasing  the  stars  before  her  with  her 
whip,  — 

"  Moto  leviter  fugat  astra  flagello." 

In  the  other  compartments  are  Daybreak,  represented 
as  a  youth  with  a  torch  in  one  hand  and  flowers  in  the 
other ;  Evening,  a  young  female  sleeping ;  and  Night, 
personified  as  an  aged  woman  poring  over  a  book.  The 
first  rays  of  light  seem  just  penetrating  into  her  gloomy 
abode,  scaring  her  companions,  the  owl  and  the  bat, 
who  are  shrinking  from  the  unwelcome  intrusion. 

In  the  Palazzo  Sjjada.^  the  great  attraction  is  the 
colossal  statue  of  Pompey,  nine  feet  high.  For  three 
centuries  it  has  been  asserted  to  be  the  one  "  at  whose 
base  great  Caesar  fell,"  and  notwithstanding  the  dis- 


202     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

cussion  of  critics,  has  retained  its  name  and  authority. 
It  was  certainly  found  buried  on  the  spot  wliere  we 
are  told  Augustus  had  it  placed,  before  the  Theatre  of 
Pompey.  The  statue  holds  a  globe  in  its  hand,  an 
emblem  of  power,  which  seems  hardly  in  republican 
taste,  and  rather  brings  it  down  to  the  days  of  the 
Empire.  The  answer  to  this  is,  that  it  was  only  a 
well-merited  compliment  to  him  who  found  Asia  Minor 
tlie  boundary,  and  left  it  the  centre  of  the  Roman 
Empire.  Could  we  believe  this  view,  it  would  cer- 
tainly be  with  no  ordinary  interest  that  we  stand  at  its 
pedestal.  We  should  call  back  eighteen  centuries  as 
we  gaze  upon  the  lineaments  of  him,  who  was  second 
to  Rome's  great  Master,  in  fortune  only,  remembering 
that  tragedy  in  the  Senate  House,  when  in  the  retribu- 
tions of  Nemesis,  that  rival  was  prostrated  at  the  base 
of  this  stem  lookino;  statue,  bathino;  it  with  his  blood. 

Gibbon  describes  the  manner  in  which  this  relic  of 
antiquity  was  found  in  digging  the  foundations  of  a 
house.  When  first  discovered,  the  head  was  under 
one  building  and  the  body  under  another.  The  two 
owners  therefore  quarreled,  and  were  on  the  point  of 
dividing  the  statue,  —  thus  rivaling  the  judgment  of 
Solomon,  —  when  Julius  III.  interposed,  and  gave 
them  five  hundred  crowns  which  they  thankfully  re- 
ceived, as  being  susceptible  of  a  more  easy  partition. 
This  antique  figure  has  since  then  made  one  appear- 
ance in  public.  When  the  French  held  Rome,  they 
determined  to  have  Voltaire's  tragedy  of  Brutus  per- 
formed in  the  Coliseum,  and  to  give  it  greater  effect 
decided  that  their  Caesar,  like  the  original  Dictator, 
should  fall  at  the  base  of  this  statue.  It  was  accord- 
ingly transported  to  the  place  of  exhibition,  although 


THE    CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.      203 

in  so  doing  they  were  obliged  temporarily  to  deprive 
it  of  the  right  arm, 

One  of  the  largest  collections  of  paintings  is  found  in 
the  Palazzo  Borgfiese.  Among  them  is  the  "  Cuma?an 
Sibyl "  of  Domenichino,  so  familiar  through  copies 
dispersed  everywhere,  though  no  copy  can  give  the 
beauty  of  the  original.  Nameless  and  by  an  unknown 
artist,  this  picture  would  anywhere  arrest  attention. 
We  look  upon  it  however  with  a  new  association  of 
interest,  since  Bulwer  has  adopted  it  as  the  portrait  of 
the  high-souled  Nina  di  Raselli,  and  in  his  own  fasci- 
nating language,  thus  added  the  description,  —  "  Why 
this  is  called  the  Cuma^an  Sibyl  I  know  not,  save  that 
it  has  something  strange  and  unearthly  in  the  dark 
beauty  of  the  eyes.  I  beseech  thee,  mistake  not  this 
sibyl  for  another,  for  Roman  galleries  abound  in  sibyls. 
The  sibyl  I  speak  of  is  dark,  and  the  face  has  an  east- 
ern cast :  the  robe  and  turban,  gorgeous  though  they 
be,  grow  dim  before  the  rich  but  transparent  roses  of 
the  cheek ;  the  hair  would  be  black,  save  for  that 
golden  glow  which  mellows  it  to  a  hue  and  lustre  never 
seen  but  in  the  South,  and  even  in  the  South  most 
rare ;  the  features,  not  Grecian,  are  yet  faultless ;  the 
mouth,  the  brow,  the  ripe  and  exquisite  contour,  all 
are  human  and  voluptuous  ;  the  expression,  the  aspect, 
is  something  more  ;  the  form  is  perhaps  too  full  for  the 
ideal  of  loveliness,  for  the  proportions  of  sculpture,  for 
the  delicacy  of  Athenian  models ;  but  the  luxuriant 
fault  has  a  majesty.  Gaze  long  upon  that  picture :  it 
charms,  yet  commands  the  eye." 

There  is  another  portrait  in  this  gallery  on  which 
too  we  may  gaze  with  interest,  for  it  gives  us  the  linea- 
ments of  one  who  in  his  day  was  the  troubler  of  Italy, 


204     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

shrinking  from  no  means  to  gain  his  end,  using  the  dag- 
ger and  the  poison  with  perfect  recklessness  to  remove 
a  rival,  and  without  compunction  throwing  aside  his 
priestly  office  and  Cardinal's  rank  to  become  the 
leader  of  armies,  when  a  temporal  principality  was 
within  his  reach.  It  is  the  picture  of  a  young  man, 
but  with  no  flush  of  youth  upon  his  countenance. 
The  face  is  pale  and  sallow,  the  lips  compressed,  and 
the  look  keenly  intellectual.  You  would  decide  that 
every  line  and  feature  revealed  the  character  of  an 
accomplished,  yet  unprincipled  intriguer.  The  judg- 
ment would  be  right,  for  that  is  Raphael's  portrait  of 
Csesar  Borgia. 

Look  at  one  more  picture,  which  is  founded  on  a 
legend  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  It  is  "  St.  Anthony 
preaching  to  the  Fishes,"  by  Paul  Veronese.  The  ser- 
mon which  he  delivered  on  that  occasion  can  be  pur- 
chased in  any  of  the  bookstores  in  this  city.  It  com- 
mences with  the  salutation,  "  Cari  et  amati  pesci  " 
(dearly  beloved  fish),  and  at  its  conclusion,  the  legend 
tells  us,  the  fish  bowed  to  him,  "  Congesti  di  profonda 
umilta  e  con  reverente  sembiante  di  religione  "  (with 
profound  humility,  and  a  grave  and  religious  counte- 
nance). The  artist  seems  to  have  endeavored  to  exhibit 
this  happy  close  of  the  Saint's  lecture,  and  the  upturned 
eyes  of  the  fish  are  certainly  very  edifying.  After  the 
discourse  was  over,  and  this  flattering  testimonial  in  its 
behalf  had  been  received,  the  Saint  gave  them  his 
blessing,  and  the  congregation  dispersed. 

The  Borghese  family  is  one  of  the  most  wealthy  of 
the  Roman  nobility,  and  distinguished  also  for  its  public 
liberality.  Just  beyond  the  city  is  the  Villa  Borghese^ 
occupying  a  portion  of  the  Pincian  Hill,  and,  with  its 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    205 

gardens  and  pleasure  grounds,  covering  a  circuit  of 
more  than  three  miles  in  extent.  And  yet  its  walks 
are  open  to  all  who  choose  to  enter,  prince  or  peasant ; 
and  there  they  may  wander  about  or  ride,  with  a  per- 
fect wilderness  of  statues  around  them,  while  at  every 
turn  graceful  temples  arrest  the  attention,  and  the  eye 
is  refreshed  by  the  sight  of  water,  spread  out  into  lakes, 
or  flung  high  into  the  air  by  sparkling  fountains.  Here 
and  there  are  Latin  inscriptions  declaring  the  wish  of 
the  noble  owner  that  all  should  unite  in  the  enjoyment 
which  these  splendid  gardens  offer.  One  of  them 
states,  that  "  all  these  things  are  prepared  for  strangei^ 
rather  than  for  the  master.'* 

The  last  Prince  Borghese  married  Napoleon's  beauti- 
ful sister  Pauline.  Of  the  reality  of  her  beauty  in- 
deed the  present  generation  have  a  good  opportunity 
of  judging,  for  her  statue,  almost  in  a  state  of  nudity, 
was  executed  by  Canova,  and  is  esteemed  one  of  his 
most  finished  works.  She  is  taken  in  the  character  of 
Venus,  reclining  gracefully  on  a  couch,  and  holding  in 
one  hand  the  apple  which  Paris  had  just  awarded  her 
in  the  contest  of  beauty  with  the  other  goddesses. 
The  present  Prince  married  a  lady  as  widely  different 
in  character  from  the  Princess  Pauline  as  is  possible. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  and 
died  about  two  years  ago,  leaving  behind  her  a  character 
for  sanctity,  which  seems  to  have  been  gained  by  a  life 
of  earnest  devotion  and  ceaseless  charity  seldom  wit- 
nessed in  her  elevated  i*ank.  She  would  steal  away 
from  the  magnificence  of  their  villa,  where  everything 
was  around  her  to  win  the  affections  to  earth,  and  in 
the  dress  of  one  of  the  Sisterhood  of  Charity,  go 
through  the  city  seeking  everywhere  distress  and  mis- 


206     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

eiy  to  which  she  might  minister.  I  read  her  funeral 
sermon  while  in  Rome,  and  if  half  is  true  which  is  there 
related,  or  which  I  heard  mentioned  in  conversation  as 
illustrating  her  spirit  of  self-denial,  she  deserves  to  be 
canonized  more  than  nine  tenths  of  those  who  now 
fissure  in  the  Romish  calendar. 

Her  sister,  the  Lady  Catherine  Talbot,  likewise  mar- 
ried one  of  the  first  noblemen  in  Italy  —  the  Prince 
Dorla.  Their  palace,  we  have  already  said,  is  one  of 
the  most  splendid  in  Rome,  and  kept  in  a  degree  of 
style  and  elegance  befitting  such  a  place.  More  than 
one  thousand  pictures  are  arranged  in  its  long  galleries, 
where  the  magnificence  of  everything  around  is  in 
admirable  harmony.  The  great  charm  of  this  collec- 
tion consists  in  its  Claudes.  As  we  walk  on,  we  are 
arrested  every  little  while  by  one  of  those  bright  glow- 
ing pictures,  generally  a  sunset,  whose  radiance  is 
thrown  over  the  whole  landscape,  until  it  forms  a  scene 
of  fairy  enchantment  on  which  poets  love  to  muse, 
and  which  Claude  alone  could  embody  and  spread  upon 
the  canvas. 

We  never  however  passed  the  Palazzo  Doria  in  the 
Corso,  without  thinking  that  its  owner  was  out  of  place. 
The  Dorias  seem  to  belong  to  Genoa,  where  the  name  of 
Andrea  Doria  will  always  remain  the  noblest  on  the 
page  of  her  history.  His  immense  wealth  enabled  him 
to  support  a  fleet  of  twenty-two  galleys,  and  with  this  he 
turned  the  scale  and  freed  his  country  from  the  yoke  of 
France.  He  declined  the  offer  of  the  ducal  coronet  for 
life,  and,  liad  he  wished,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  he 
might  have  acquired  the  absolute  sovereignty.  But  a 
few  weeks  before,  we  had  been  through  his  palace  in 
Genoa.    On  its  front  is  a  long  Latin  inscription,  in  which 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    207 

the  stately  old  Admiral,  "  II  Principe,"  —  to  use  the 
title  which  Charles  V.  granted  him,  —  informs  us  that 
he  erected  this  residence  for  himself  and  his  suc- 
cessors, "  (Edes  sibi  et  successoribus  instauravit, 
MDXXViii."  Around  the  palace  are  extensive  gardens 
which  descend  to  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  and 
thus  their  walls  are  washed  by  the  waves  of  that  sea 
on  which  he  won  immortal  glory.  You  wander  on 
through  walks  of  cypress  and  orange,  while  statues 
and  fountains  and  vases  placed  around,  all  seem  in 
perfect  harmony  with  the  beauty  of  the  grounds.  The 
palace  can  lay  no  claim  to  the  magnificence  of  that 
in  Rome,  but  its  historical  associations  invest  it  with 
far  greater  interest.  The  absence  of  the  family,  how- 
ever, has  suffered  it  to  fall  somewhat  into  decay,  and 
unless  care  is  taken,  a  few  years  more  will  efface  en- 
tirely the  splendid  frescoes  with  which  Perino  deco- 
rated it  in  the  days  of  the  Great  Admiral. 

As  a  whole,  however,  no  palace  interested  us  so 
much  as  the  Colonna.  There  is  something,  to  be  sure, 
in  the  association  of  the  name,  for  through  all  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  it  was  the  noblest  family  in  Rome.  Their 
lineage  runs  back  to  some  remote  source  on  the  banks 
of  the  Rhine,  where  the  wildest  legends  mingle  with 
the  truth.  It  was  even  maintained,  in  support  of  their 
old  Roman  origin,  that  they  were  descended  from 
a  cousin  of  Nero,  who  escaped  from  the  city,  and 
founded  Mentz  in  Germany  ;  and  Gibbon  tells  us,  that 
''  the  sovereigns  of  Germany  were  not  ashamed  of  a 
real  or  fabulous  affinity  with  a  noble  race,  which  in 
the  revolutions  of  seven  hundred  years  has  been  often 
illustrated  by  merit,  and  always  by  fortune."  They 
are    supposed  to   have    descended   from   the   ancient 


208     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

Counts  of  Tusculum,  but  the  first  historical  mention  of 
them  is  in  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  when 
the  Countess  Emelia  of  Palestrina  married  a  baron  de- 
scribed as  De  Columna.  Thus  Palestrina,  which  is 
about  twelve  miles  from  Colonna,  passed  into  their 
hands,  and  for  centuries  after  it  was  their  mountain 
fastness,  and  celebrated  in  all  their  struggles  with  the 
Popes. 

To  the  student  of  ecclesiastical  history  this  place  is 
particularly  associated  with  the  contest  of  the  family 
with  Boniface  VIII.  He  was  one  of  the  Gaetani 
family,  and  the  two  Cardinals  Giacamo  and  Pietro 
Colonna,  having  vainly  opposed  his  election,  retired 
with  their  kinsman  Sciarra  to  this  castle,  and  there 
openly  disclaimed  his  authority.  He  at  once  excom- 
municated them,  offered  plenary  indulgence  to  all 
who  would  take  up  arms  against  the  family,  and 
was  thus  enabled,  after  a  gallant  resistance,  to  take 
their  stronghold.  Their  power  broken,  the  Cardinals 
agreed  to  come  to  Anagni,  where  the  Pope  was  resid- 
ing, and  make  their  submission.  Then  was  witnessed 
one  of  those  acts  of  treachery,  not  unusual  in  the 
Papal  history.  Boniface  was  advised  to  "  promise 
much  and  perform  little,"  and  he  fully  acted  up  to 
the  counsel ;  for  which  Dante  in  his  "  Inferno  "  has  con- 
demned him  to  immortal  infamy.  He  nominally  granted 
them  pardon,  but  at  the  same  time  took  measures  to 
have  Palestrina  razed  to  the  ground,  and  the  whole 
Colonna  family  hunted  out  of  Italy. 

But  the  hour  of  retribution  came.  Scian-a  Co- 
lonna, after  a  series  of  most  romantic  adventures,  re- 
turned to  Rome  just  as  the  King  of  France,  Philippe 
le  Bel,  had  dispatched  William  de  Nogaret  to    seize 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    209 

the  Pope,  and  with  this  party  he  alHed  himself.  It 
was  in  1303  that  Boniface  was  residing:  at  Ana^ni, 
some  fifty  miles  from  Rome,  and  believing  all  his  ene- 
mies crushed,  he  liad  prepared  a  Bull,  in  which  he 
maintained  "  that,  as  Vicar  of  Jesus  Clu-ist,  he  had  the 
power  to  govern  kings  with  a  rod  of  iron,  and  to  dash 
them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel."  The  eighth  of 
September,  the  anniversary  of  the  Nativity  of  the 
Virgin,  was  the  time  selected  for  its  publication,  but 
the  very  day  preceding,  his  dream  of  dominion  was 
most  rudelv  broken.  Shouts  were  heard  aloncr  the 
streets  of  Anao;ni,  —  ''  Lono;  life  to  the  Kino;  of  France  ! 
Death  to  Boniface  !  "  and  looking  from  his  palace  win- 
dow, the  Pope  beheld  a  band  of  three  hundred  horse- 
men headed  by  his  old  enemy,  just  surrounding  the 
Pontifical  residence. 

Boniface  was  now  in  his  eighty-seventh  year,  but 
age  had  not  broken  the  courage  of  one  of  whom  it  was 
written,  "Regnabit  ut  Leo," — he  shall  reign  as  a 
lion, — and  he  prepared  with  firmness  to  meet  his  foes. 
He  clothed  himself  in  his  official  robes,  placed  the 
crown  of  Constantine  on  his  head,  and  with  the  keys 
and  cross  in  his  hands,  seated  himself  in  the  Pontifical 
Chair.  Sciarra  Colonna  rushed  first  into  his  presence, 
but  struck  by  the  dignified  composure  of  his  enemy,  he 
went  no  further  than  verbal  insults.  Nogaret  followed, 
but  feeling  less  reverence,  he  dragged  the  Pope  forth, 
and  committed  him  to  close  imprisonment.  Three 
days  afterwards  the  people  rose,  expelled  the  intruders, 
and  rescued  Boniface,  but  they  could  not  soothe  his 
wounded  spirit,  and  he  shortly  died  from  the  violence 
of  his  passions  and  the  disgi*ace  which  he  felt  had  been 
inflicted  on  him. 

u 


210     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLY  DAYS  IN  ROME. 

His  successor,  Benedict  XI.,  absolved  the  Colonnas 
from  excommunication,  and  they  shortly  after  began  to 
rebuild  Palestrina,  which  in  1311  was  ready  to  receive 
Henry  of  Luxembourg,  Emperor  of  Germany,  when 
he  came  to  Rome  to  be  crowned.  Louis  of  Bavaria 
resided  there  at  his  coronation  in  1328;  and  twice 
Stephen  Colonna  repulsed  Rienzi  from  its  walls,  when 
he  was  vainly  attempting  to  seize  it. 

It  is  this  Stephen  Colonna  who  stands  preeminent 
among  the  heroes  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  whose 
name,  in  the  mind  of  every  Italian  scholar,  is  so  inti- 
mately associated  with  that  of  Petrarch.  It  is  w^orth 
while  learning  Italian  to  read  the  letters  which  the  poet 
addressed  to  him,  styling  him  "  a  pha3nix  sprung  from 
the  ashes  of  the  ancient  Romans."  Nor  was  this  praise 
undeserved.  In  every  change  of  fortune,  and  even  in 
exile,  Stephen  Colonna  sustained  his  dignity.  When 
driven  from  his  country,  and  an  attendant  asked  him, 
"  Where  is  now  your  fortress  ?  "  he  laid  his  hand  on 
his  heart,  and  answered,  "  Here."  Amidst  the  feuds 
of  Rome,  or  at  the  Court  of  Avignon,  he  commanded 
no  feeling  but  that  of  reverence. 

But  these  historical  recollections  have  led  us  from 
our  subject.  At  Avignon  we  had  seen  the  deserted 
Colonna  palace  standing  directly  opposite  to  that  of  the 
Popes,  and  wdiich  was  occupied  by  some  of  the  family 
during  the  residence  there  of  the  Papal  Court  —  "  the 
Babylonish  captivity,"  as  Petrarch  calls  it ;  but  it 
cannot  compare  in  splendor  with  this  one  at  Rome. 
The  latter  was  commenced  in  1417  by  Pope  Martin 
V.  (Oddone  Colonna).  Here  also  afterwards  lived 
Cardinal  Borromeo  and  Pope  Julius  IL ;  and  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  when  Andrew  Paleologus,  the  Em- 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    211 

peror  of  the  East,  visited  Rome,  it  was  here  that  he 
made  liis  home.  The  palace  seems  to  preserve  its  dis- 
tinctive character  as  tlie  peculiar  residence  of  the  family, 
and  in  all  parts  of  it  we  learn  something  of  their  past 
history,  until  the  whole  building  becomes,  as  it  were, 
one  record  of  their  deeds.  Everywhere  we  see  their 
armorial  bearings  —  the  column,  surmounted  by  the 
crown  —  the  latter  emblem  being  added  by  Louis  of 
Bavaria  at  his  coronation,  out  of  gratitude  to  the  fam- 
ily for  their  assistance  ;  while  on  the  walls  are  portraits 
of  Cardinals  and  Popes,  and  the  leaders  of  armJes,  — 
men  whose  names  were  celebrated  in  their  day,  —  all 
claiming  descent  from  the  Colonna. 

These  are  mostly  arranged  in  the  great  gallery, 
more  than  two  hundred  feet  in  length,  the  noblest  hall 
in  Rome,  and  not  surpassed  by  any  in  Europe.  Its 
ceiling  is  painted  in  fresco  with  a  representation  of  the 
battle  of  Lepanto,  where  the  Roman  galleys  were  led 
by  a  prince  of  this  family.  It  was  on  Sunday,  the 
seventh  of  October,  a.  d.  1571,  that  the  Crescent 
and  the  Cross  were  thus  arrayed  against  each  other ; 
and  it  added  to  the  courage  of  the  Christian  sol- 
diers to  know,  that  on  that  day  all  their  brethren 
through  Christendom  were  offering  up  prayers  for 
the  success  of  the  arms  they  wielded.  It  is  an 
additional  circumstance  of  interest,  tha  the  galleys  of 
Genoa  were  led  by  John  Andrew  Doria,  a  descendant 
of  the  great  admiral.  After  a  conflict  of  four  hours 
victory  declared  for  the  Cross.  Upwards  of  fifteen 
thousand  Turks  fell  in  the  battle,  sixty-two  ships  were 
sunk  and  a  hundred  and  twenty  taken,  while  more 
than  twelve  thousand  Christian  slaves  found  in  the  Ot- 
toman vessels  were  set  at  liberty.     Tlie  an'ival  of  the 


212     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

news  in  Rome,  we  are  told,  revived  the  memory  of  her 
ancient  glory,  and  it  was  det-ermined  to  bestow  npon 
Prince  Colonna  the  honor  of  a  modern  triumph.  He 
was  received  with  all  possible  splendor  by  the  Senator 
and  Magistrates  of  the  city,  and,  like  the  old  Consuls, 
escorted  with  pomp  and  acclamations  to  the  Capitol. 
His  portrait  hangs  upon  the  wall,  showing  in  all  his 
bearing,  the  chivalrous  soldier. 

Yet  near  it  is  one  which  interests  us  more.  It  is 
the  picture  of  Vittoria  Colonna,  the  sweet  poetess, 
whose  sonnets  will  live  as  lono;  as  the  lanmiacre  in  which 
they  are  written,  and  who  well  deserved  the  title  her 
countrymen  bestowed  upon  her,  —  "  The  most  beautiful 
and  glorious  lady."  She  was  the  wife  of  the  Marquis 
of  Pescara,  and  when  efforts  were  made  to  turn  him 
from  his  fidelity  to  the  Spanish  cause,  she  wrote  to  him 
these  noble  admonitions,  —  "  Remember  your  virtue, 
which  raises  you  above  fortune  and  above  kings.  By 
that  alone,  and  not  by  the  splendor  of  titles,  is  glory 
acquired,  that  glory  which  it  will  be  your  happiness 
and  pride  to  transmit  unspotted  to  your  posterity." 
Her  husband  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Pavia,  and 
thenceforth  she  retired  from  the  world.  Most  beautiful 
in  mind  and  person,  she  had  no  lack  of  suitors,  but  she 
remained  constant  to  the  memory  of  the  lost,  and  when 
she  celebrates  his  praises,  tlie  deep  and  true  tenderness 
of  her  lines  shows  the  earnestness  of  her  affection. 
But  she  was  also  a  priestess  of  religion,  and  conse- 
crated her  lyre  to  the  mysteries  and  graces  of  our 
faith,  leaning  indeed  so  much  to  the  purer  doctrines 
which  then  began  to  spread,  heralding  the  Reformation, 
that  she  often  drew  upon  herself  reproach  and  satire. 
But  her  purity  of  song  was  so  well  acknowledged,  that 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    213 

even  in  life  she  gained  the  title  of  Divine,  which  was 
granted  to  Dante  and  Ariosto  only  after  death.  Her 
fame  indeed  spread  widely,  so  that  Ariosto  dedicated 
to  her  a  number  of  his  immortal  verses. 

But  she  has  another  claim  to  our  interest.  It  was 
to  her  that  Michael  Angelo  Buonarotti  devoted  his 
muse,  when  turning  from  Sculpture  and  Painting  he 
sought  the  inspiration  of  their  sister  Poetry.  He  wor- 
shipped her  with  that  Platonic  love  which  at  this  period 
had  begun  to  imbue  the  minds  of  Italian  poets,  redeem- 
ing the  passion  from  all  that  was  earthly,  showing  it 
purified  by  the  loftiest  virtue,  and  raising  its  object 
almost  to  the  confines  of  Divinity.  His  love,  therefore, 
was  not  like  that  of  Dante  for  his  Beatrice,  or  of  Pe- 
trarch for  his  Laura,  for  they  shared  too  deeply  in  the 
feelings  of  mere  mostals.  But  w^hile  every  line  of 
Buonarotti  glows  with  tenderness,  we  perceive  that  it 
is  something  sacred,  partaking  of  the  love  which  he 
might  have  had  for  an  object  purely  ideal,  the  sort  of 
abstract  devotion  with  which  he  would  have  worshipped 
the  beautiful  in  art.  And  did  she,  who  had  refused 
the  hand  of  princes,  return  this  affection  ?  There  is 
no  evidence  that  she  did.  She  admired  him  as  an  al- 
most inspired  artist,  and  often  wrote  to  him  with  warm 
regard,  yet  no  tinge  of  earthly  passion  appears  in  any 
of  the  lines  of  Vittoria  Colonna.  Her  life  glided 
quietly  away  ii)  the  convent  near  Rome  in  which  she 
resided,  yet  without  taking  the  vows,  and  there  she 
died  in  old  age,  a  few  years  before  her  impassioned 
admirer. 

With  all  these  associations,  is  it  to  be  wondered  that 
we  gazed  long  upon  her  picture?  How  sweet  and 
calm  appears  her   countenance  seen  thus   among  the 


214     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

warlike  princes  of  her  race  ;  as  strange  as  the  contrast 
furnished  by  the  soft  and  melodious  verses  she  could 
weave,  while  they  were  engaged  in  wild  forays  and 
deeds  of  blood  !  As  we  stand  before  it,  we  forget  the 
last  three  centuries,  and  remember  only  that  age  so 
glorious  for  Italy,  when  at  once  she  exchanged  the 
darkness  which  had  shrouded  her,  for  all  that  was  no- 
ble in  the  arts  or  elevated  in  poetry. 

The  most  beautiful  woman  we  have  seen  in  Italy  is 
a  princess  of  the  Colonna  family.  It  was  in  the  lofty 
halls  of  one  of  these  old  feudal  palaces,  when  the  radi- 
ance of  an  hundred  lamps  flashing  back  from  the  gilded 
ceilings  and  marble  columns,  presented  a  scene  of 
elegance,  for  the  display  of  which  no  place  is  better 
adapted  than  the  palace  of  a  Roman  prince.  The  sa- 
loons were  filled  with  the  noblest  of  these  sunny  climes, 
whose  names  recalled  associations  which  stretched  back 
to  the  mediaeval  times.  Rich  music  fell  on  the  ear ; 
jewels  flashed  before  the  eye  ;  and  the  beauty  of  Eng- 
land was  seen  by  the  side  of  the  more  impassioned 
loveliness  of  Southern  Europe.  Around  the  Princess 
Doria,  a  circle  of  her  countrymen  had  gathered,  claim- 
ing her  to  themselves,  as  a  descendant  of  the  old  he- 
roic Talbots.  But  among  all  present,  "the  observed 
of  all  observers,"  was  this  member  of  the  princely 
house  of  Colonna,  of  whom  we  have  spoken.  As  the 
light  flashed  from  the  diamond  tiara  on  her  head,  she 
seemed  worthy  to  be  a  queen,  even  in  this  land  where 
beauty  is  an  inheritance  and  where  the  classical  fea- 
tures of  the  lowest  peasantry  are  often  those  from  which 
Raphael  might  have  drawn  his  inspiration. 

But  the  fortunes  of  this  noble  house  seem  now  to  be 
waning,  for  the  age  of  chivalry  is  gone,  and  that  of 
v.lilitarianism  has  taken  its  place. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    215 

"  And  noble  name,  and  cultured  land, 

Palace  and  park,  and  vassal  band, 

Are  powerless  to  the  notes  of  hand 

Of  Rothschild,  or  the  Barings." 

The  present  prince  is  seldom  in  Rome.  Having 
married  a  lady  of  Naples,  he  generally  resides  in  that 
city.  In  the  last  century  the  family  even  sold  to  the 
Ludovisi  the  estate  of  Colonna,  thus  alienating  a  place 
from  which  they  derive  their  name ;  and  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  they  parted  with  Palestrina,  their  old 
feudal  stronghold.  It  was  purchased  by  Carlo  Bar- 
bcrini,  brother  to  Urban  VIII.,  for  the  sum  of  seven 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars.  And  to 
show  how  much  interest  is  often  felt  by  these  Ro- 
man nobles  in  historical  recollections,  it  is  related- 
that  the  last  Prince  Barberini,  whose  family  had  not 
seen  Palestrina  for  three  generations,  being  asked,  why 
he  did  not  visit  so  interesting  a  spot,  a  short  day's  jour- 
ney from  his  palace  in  Rome,  replied,  "  Why,  my 
father  never  visited  it ;  besides,  it  is  too  long  a  journey 
for  my  own  horses,  and  not  worth  the  expense  of  post- 
ing."i 

We  will  refer  to  but  one  more  of  these  palaces  ;  that 
of  the  Barberini.  The  family  was  formerly  one  of  the 
most  powerful  in  Rome,  being  built  up  by  Pope  Urban 

1  Lady  Morgan,  twenty  j'cars  ago,  related  a  story  equally  good  of  the 
Borghese  family.  Their  library  had  not  been  opened  for  many  years 
before  the  revolution.  Some  time  after  that  event,  and  the  young  prince 
had  married  into  the  Bonaparte  family,  a  visit  to  it  was  proposed  as  a 
frolic  after  dinner.  After  a  long  search  for  keys,  the  party  proceeded 
thither  with  lights,  when,  on  opening  the  door,  the  singular  spectacle  pre- 
sented itself  of  the  whole  room  in  a  blaze.  This  sudden  conflagration  was 
caused  by  the  cobwebs  which  covered  the  walls  taking  fire  the  moment  the 
candles  were  brought  in.  The  flame  ran  rapidly  round,  and  was  extin- 
guished as  rapidly.  Stores  of  gold,  silver,  and  ivory  work  of  the  most 
beautiful  description  were  found  in  the  Guarda-roba  of  the  palace,  where 
they  had  been  long  forgotten. 


216     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

VIII.  (Mateo  Barberini),  whose  reign  was  noted  for 
its  nepotism.  Their  crest  —  the  bee — is  seen  on 
buildings  in  every  part  of  the  city,  and  is  sculptured 
even  in  the  interior  of  St.  Peter's,  and  on  the  canopy 
over  the  High  Altar,  which  was  also  erected  by  the 
same  Pope. 

The  library  is  celebrated  for  its  manuscripts,  contain- 
ing all  the  correspondence  of  Urban  VIII.  Some  of 
them  are  of  great  historical  value ;  such  as  the  official 
reports  on  the  state  of  the  Church  of  Rome  in  England 
during  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  They  must  contain 
much  matter  for  a  history  of  the  Stuart  family,  which 
would  throw  light  upon  many  hitherto  disputed  pouits. 
Mabillon,  who  in  1686  came  into  Italy  with  a  com- 
mission from  the  King  of  France  to  collect  manuscripts, 
had  an  opportunity  of  examining  those  in  the  Barberini 
library,  and  gives  a  pleasant  account  of  some  original 
papers  he  found  there. ^  They  contain  a  negotiation 
between  the  Spaniards  and  Urban  VIII.  It  seems 
there  was  a  saint  held  in  great  reverence  in  some  parts 
of  Spain,  of  the  name  of  Viar.  The  more  to  encour- 
age his  worship,  they  petitioned  the  Pope  to  grant 
some  special  indulgences  to  his  altars.  He  naturally, 
in  reply,  inquired  into  the  proofs  of  his  sanctity,  when 
they  produced  a  monumental  stone  which  had  been 
dug  up,  and  on  which  the  whole  claim  rested,  having 
on  it  the  letters,  S.  VIAR.  Unfortunately,  however, 
the  antiquarians  of  the  day  immediately  perceived  it 
to  be  a  fragment  of  some  old  Roman  inscription,  in 
memory  of  one  who  had  been  "  PraefectuS.  VIARum," 
or  "  Overseer  of  the  Highways." 

This  palace  once  contained  a  fine  gallery  of  paint- 

1  Mabil.  Iter.  Jtal,  p  144. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    217 

ings,  but  as  the  fortune  of  the  family  was  reduced, 
many  of  them  were  scattered,  and  now  form  the  prin- 
cipal attraction  of  other  collections  in  the  city.  And 
yet  there  is  one  remaining  in  the  gallery,  which  ren- 
ders it  in  some  respects  the  favorite  collection  in  Rome. 
It  is  the  portrait  of  Beatrice  Cenci.  The  eustode 
carried  us  through  the  different  rooms,  and  pointed  out 
one  picture  after  another,  but  we  hastily  turned  from 
them  all  in  our  impatience  to  see  the  gem  of  the  col- 
lection. At  length  he  drew  aside  a  curtain,  and  there 
we  saw  the  original  with  which  copies  had  so  long 
made  us  familiar.  They  have  been  multiplied  all  over 
the  world,  and  the  engravings  too  have  been  widely 
circulated,  but  not  one  that  we  had  ever  seen  conveyed 
nn  idea  of  that  touching  expression  which  gives  such  a 
charm  to  the  portrait  by  Guido. 

The  history  of  Beatrice  Cenci  is  one  of  those  strange 
tales  which  seem  more  like  the  wildest  fiction  than 
ahything  which  could  have  happened  in  real  life. 
Shelley  has  made  it  the  foundation  of  his  tragedy  of 
"  The  Cenci,"  where  the  darker  features  are  hinted 
at,  while  in  the  development  of  the  plot,  historical 
truth  seems  as  far  as  possible  to  have  been  observed. 
Her  father  was  of  a  noble  Roman  family,  and  in  the 
sixteenth  century  one  of  the  most  powerful  barons  of 
Italy.  He  was  leagued  with  all  the  restless  evil  spirits 
in  the  land,  and  indeed  one  of  those  demons  in  human 
form  who  seem  to  leave  us  in  doubt  whether  or  not  he 
can  be  of  the  same  nature  with  his  fellow-men.  In 
the  tragedy,  he  thus  describes  his  own  fiend-like  tastes 
and  pursuits  in  language  which  history  tells  us  is  but 
too  strictly  true  :  — 


218     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

"  When  I  was  young,  I  thought  of  nothing  else 
But  pleasure;  and  I  fed  on  honey-sweets; 
Men,  by  St.  Thomas !  cannot  live  like  bees, 
And  I  grew  tired;  yet,  till  I  kill'd  a  foe, 
And  heard  his  groans,  and  heard  his  children's  groans, 
Knew  I  not  what  delight  was  else  on  earth. 
Which  now  delights  me  little.    I  the  rather 
Look  on  such  pangs  as  terror  ill  conceals : 
The  dry  fix'd  eyeball ;  the  pale  quivering  lip, 
Which  tells  me  that  the  spirit  weeps  within 
Tears  bitterer  than  the  bloody  sweat  of  Christ. 
I  rarely  kill  the  body,  which  preserves, 
Like  a  strong  prison,  the  soul  within  ray  power, 
Wherein  I  feed  it  with  the  breath  of  fear 
For  hourly  pain." 

Although  his  wealth  was  almost  countless,  yet  his 
children  were  kept  in  poverty.  Two  of  his  sons  sent 
into  Spain,  died  in  want,  and  his  daughter,  with  her 
stepmother,  were  treated  with  the  most  shocking  hru- 
tality.  Yet  none  dared  to  interfere,  for  Count  Cenci 
was  an  enemy  who  struck  without  giving  any  warning, 
and  whose  blow  was  never  in  vain.  Shelley  repre- 
sents Cardinal  Camillo  remonstrating  with  him  on 
his  daughter's  "  strange  and  uncomplaining  wrongs," 
when  he  receives  this  characteristic  answer,  — 

"  Cardinal, 
One  thing  I  pray  you,  recollect  henceforth. 
And  so  we  shall  converse  with  less  restraint. 
A  man  you  knew,  spoke  of  my  wife  and  daughter: 
He  was  accustom'd  to  frequent  my  house; 
So  the  next  day  his  wife  and  daughter  came 
And  ask'd  if  I  had  seen  him;  and  I  smil'd: 
I  think  they  never  saw  him  any  more." 

But  the  secret  of  his  immunity  was  his  enormous 
wealth.  Whatever  deed  of  wickedness  was  detected, 
he  could  always  purchase  his  pardon  from  the  Pope. 
A  grant  was  made  of  one  of  his  fiefs  to  a  nephew  of 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    219 

the  Pontiff,  and  all  was  hushed  up.     Count  Cenci  had 
therefore  reason  to  say,  — 

"  No  doubt  Pope  Clement, 
And  his  most  charitable  nephews,  pray 
That  the  Apostle  Peter  and  the  saints 
Will  grant  for  their  sakes  that  I  long  enjoy 
Strength,  wealth,  and  pride,  and  lust,  and  length  of  days 
Wherein  to  act  the  deeds  which  are  the  stewards 
Of  their  revenue." 

At  length  his  iniquity  reached  its  climax,  and  he  at- 
tempted an  outrage  upon  the  person  of  his  daughter, 
Beatrice.  Shortly  afterwards  he  was  found  strangled 
in  his  bed,  at  the  Castle  of  Petrella,  among  the  Apulian 
Apennines.  Whether  or  not  Beatrice  was  guilty  of 
plotting  his  death  cannot  be  determined,  yet  it  is  evi- 
dent she  was  at  this  time  suffering  from  an  almost  total 
alienation  of  reason.  She  was  arrested,  with  her  step- 
mother and  brother,  and  put  to  torture,  but  nothing 
could  be  extorted  from  her.  Shelley  states,  that  the 
murderers  employed  by  her  confessed  when  put  to  the 
rack  ;  but  another  version  of  the  story  is,  that  seeing 
her  younger  brother,  Bernardo,  exposed  to  torture,  she 
assumed  the  guilt  of  the  deed  to  herself,  for  the  sake 
of  saving  him.  The  true  account  it  is  difficult  to  pro- 
cure, as  it  exists  only  in  the  records  of  the  Court,  and 
the  government  does  not  permit  it  to  be  made  public. 

Every  effort  was  made  to  save  Beatrice,  but  the 
Pope  would  not  commute  her  sentence  of  death,  for 
the  treasury  needed  replenishing,  and  he  wished  to  con- 
fiscate the  Cenci  estates.  The  night  before  her  exe- 
cution, she  made  for  herself  a  robe  of  white  sackcloth, 
with  a  loose,  winding  head-dress  of  the  same  material, 
and  it  was  finished  but  an  hour  before  she  left  her 
prison.     Guido,   says   the   family   tradition,   saw   her 


220     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

mount  the  scaffold,  and,  struck  with  her  exquisite 
beauty,  painted  her  portrait  from  memory.  The  pic- 
ture originally  belonged  to  the  Colonna  family,  and 
still  has  the  column  and  crown  painted  in  one  corner. 
"With  so  romantic  a  history  attached  to  it,  no  one  can 
wonder  that  this  is  the  favorite  picture  in  Rome.  We 
gaze  upon  it,  and  Beatrice  seems  before  us,  showing  a 
face  of  childUke  loveliness,  utterly  unHke  that  of  one 
who  could  ever  have  been  an  actor  in  such  a  terrible 
tragedy.  The  head  is  turned  on  one  side,  as  if  she  was 
leaving  you,  yet  looking  back.  From  the  folds  of  the 
white  drapery,  her  golden  hair  escapes  and  falls  about 
her  neck.  The  large,  full  eyes  look  mournfully  from 
the  canvas,  and  the  delicate  features  are  all  swollen 
with  weeping.  The  whole  expression  is  one  deeply 
pathetic  —  the  countenance  of  a  gentle  being  who  had 
been  stricken  with  despair,  yet  from  whose  every  linea- 
ment there  beams  forth  an  exquisite  loveliness.  "  Bea- 
trice Cenci,"  says  Shelley,  "  appears  to  have  been  one 
of  those  rare  persons  in  whom  energy  and  gentleness 
dwell  together,  without  destroying  one  another :  her 
nature  was  simple  and  profound.  The  crimes  and 
miseries,  in  which  she  was  an  actor  and  a  sufferer, 
are  as  the  mask,  and  the  mantle,  in  which  circum- 
stances clothed  her  for  her  impersonation  on  the  scene 
of  the  world." 

Since  this  tragedy,  the  old  palace  of  the  Cenci,  in  the 
city,  has  stood  desolate  and  uninhabited,  as  if  stricken 
by  a  curse.  The  family,  we  believe,  ended  at  that 
time ;  its  sole  survivor,  the  young  Bernardo,  disap- 
peared, and  was  generally  supposed  to  have  been 
placed  in  a  monastery.  We  wandered  over  the  courts 
of  the  palace,  and  look  through  its  deep,  dark  dun- 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    221 

geons,  with  the  interest  with  which  this  strange  story 
has  invested  it.  It  is  now  in  the  most  obscure  quarter 
of  Rome  —  an  immense,  gloomy,  and  deserted  pile  of 
massive  architecture,  without  doors,  or  windows,  or 
any  sign  of  human  habitation,  yet  showing,  by  its  an- 
tique friezes  of  fine  workmanship,  the  magnificence 
which  it  once  possessed.  There  seems  to  brood  over  it 
a  spirit  of  desolate  and  ruined  grandeui-.  Adjoining  it 
is  the  little  Chapel  of  S.  Thommaso  a'  Cenci,  erected  by 
the  notorious  Count  Francisco  Cenci,  of  whom  we  have 
been  speaking,  and  endowed  to  offer  up  masses  for  the 
peace  of  his  soul.  What  a  strange  contradiction  of 
traits !  Yet  thus  religion  is  often  exhibited  in  this 
land.  Shelley  truly  says,  that  in  an  Italian,  "  it  is 
interwoven  with  the  whole  fabric  of  life.  It  is  ado- 
ration, faith,  submission,  penitence,  blind  admiration ; 
not  a  rule  for  moral  conduct.  It  has  no  necessary 
connection  with  any  one  virtue.  The  most  atrocious 
villain  may  be  rigidly  devout,  and,  without  any  shock 
to  established  faith,  confess  himself  to  be  so.  Religion 
pervades  intensely  the  whole  frame  of  society,  and 
is,  according  to  the  temper  of  the  mind  which  it  in- 
habits, a  passion,  a  persuasion,  an  excuse,  a  refuge  : 
never  a  check." 

To  believe  in  the  innocence  of  Beatrice,  is  part  of  the 
creed  of  an  Italian.  Her  story  is  one  of  those  romantic 
traditions  which  sink  deeply  into  the  popular  mind. 
Every  beggar  on  the  steps  of  the  Scala  di  Spagna  is 
perfectly  familiar  with  it.  He  knows  her  portrait  as 
well  as  he  does  the  pictures  of  the  Madonna,  and  no 
possible  evidence  could  turn  him  from  the  conviction 
that  she  was  a  victim  unjustly  sacrificed.     Every  Ro- 


222     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

man  acts  most  religiously  on  the  parting  advice  she  is 
represented  as  giving  to  the  young  Bernardo,  — 

"  One  thing  more,  my  child : 
For  thine  own  sake  be  constant  to  the  love 
Thou  bearest  us;  and  to  the  faith  that  I, 
Though  wrapt  in  a  strange  cloud  of  crime  and  shame, 
Lived  ever  holy  and  unstain'd.    And  though 
111  tongues  shall  wound  me,  and  our  common  name 
Be  as  a  mark  stamp'd  on  thine  innocent  brow 
For  men  to  point  at  as  they  pass,  do  thou 
Forbear,  and  never  think  a  thought  unkind 
Of  those  who  perhaps  love  thee  in  their  graves." 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 


EXCURSION   TO    TIVOLI. 


HE  neighborhood  of  Rome  abounds  with 
scenes  to  which  the  visitor  can  make  de- 
hghtful  excursions.  We  have  been  to-day 
to  Tivoli,  to  which  every  one  goes,  and  we 
therefore  followed  the  example  of  the  rest  of  the  world. 
The  sun  was  just  rising  as  we  passed  through  the  gate 
of  San  Lorenzo,  and  near  the  old  Church  of  the  same 
name.  It  stands  close  without  the  walls,  and  is  one  of 
the  most  ancient  in  the  world.  We  may  still  see  with- 
in it,  the  upper  row  of  columns  for  the  female  gallery, 
preserved  unaltered  from  an  early  age.  Our  road  led 
for  nearly  the  whole  distance  over  the  desolate  Cam- 
pagna,  which  we  traversed  by  the  Via  Tiburtina,  in 
some  parts  passing  over  the  ancient  pavement,  formed 
by  large  blocks  of  lava.^  Here  and  there  was  a  tomb, 
or  the  remains  of  some  shattered  monument  —  the 
only  tokens  existing  of  the  thousands  who  once  in- 
habited this  waste  region,  now  given  up  to  sterility  and 
miasma. 

A  few  miles  brought  us  to  a  canal  which  drains  the 
sulphureous  lake  of  Salfatara.  The  water  which  flows 
through  it  is  of  a  milky  color,  and  long  before  we 
reached  it,  the  sulphureous  fumes  and  gas  gave  notice 

-  It  has  been  discovered  by  excavating,  that  this  ancient  road  has  been 
paved  three  times,  the  pavements  being  found  one  above  the  other. 


224     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

of  its  vicinity.  The  lake  was  once  a  mile  in  circuit, 
but  has  been  gradually  diminishing  until  but  little  of  it 
is  visible.  It  is  filled  with  floating  islands,  composed 
of  small  masses  of  reeds  and  other  substances  matted 
together,  and  which  are  carried  to  and  fro  by  the  wind, 
like  those  of  the  Vadimon  Lake  of  which  Pliny  has 
given  such  a  minute  account.^  These  bituminous 
masses  gradually  add  to  the  solid  concretions  on  the 
margin  of  the  lake,  and  probably  in  the  course  of  a 
short  time  the  remaining  surface  will  be  hid.  For  a 
considerable  space  .around,  the  ground  sounds  hollow 
under  foot,  showing  that  we  are  only  treading  on  the 
crust  which  covers  the  lake. 

A  short  distance  further  and  we  crossed  the  Anio  by 
the  Ponte  Lucana,  a  bridge  well  known  to  visitors  in 
Rome  by  the  picture  of  Poussin  in  the  Doria  Palace. 
Near  it  stands  the  lofty  tomb  of  Plautius  Silvanus,  who 
accompanied  Claudius  on  his  expedition  into  Britain. 
Like  all  these  massive  monuments,  it  was  during  the 
Middle  Ages  converted  into  a  fortress,  and  the  battle- 
ments by  which  it  was  crowned  still  remain.  It  is  a 
most  picturesque  ruin,  and  a  favorite  subject  with  the 
landscape  painters  of  all  countries.  From  this  spot  we 
left  the  main  road,  and  by  a  narrow  and  vile  lane 
rode  to  Hadrian's  Villa.  It  is  a  strange  mass  of  ruins, 
far  more  extensive  even  than  the  Palace  of  the  Cse- 
sars,  and  giving  proof  of  that  spirit  of  luxury  which 
was  the  absorbing  feeling  in  the  latter  days  of  Rome. 
It  was  originally  constructed  on  a  plan  surpassing 
everything  else  that  even  Imperial  magnificence  had 
attempted,  and  covering  a  space  of  from  eight  to  ten 
miles  in  circuit.  Into  this  one  spot  the  Emperor  in- 
1  Ep.  vii.  20. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     225 

tended  to  gather  an  imitation  of  all  tliat  he  had  seen 
in  his  travels,  which  most  interested  him.  Here  were 
a  Lyceum,  an  Academy,  a  Poecile  in  imitation  of  that 
at  Athens,  a  Vale  of  Tempe,  a  Serapeon  of  Canopus 
like  the  one  at  Alexandria,  a  stream  called  the  Euripus, 
a  Library,  Barracks  for  the  Guards,  a  Tartarus,  Ely- 
sian  Fields,  and  temples  dedicated  to  a  perfect  Pan- 
theon of  gods.     He  had  — 

"  Collected 
All  things  that  strike,  ennoble  —  from  the  depths 
Of  Egypt,  from  the  classic  fields  of  Greece, 
Her  groves,  her  temples  —  all  things  that  inspire 
Wonder,  delight." 

We  found  the  usual  cicerone^  and  spent  some  hours 
in  wandering  about  among  the  massive  ruins.  To 
attempt  to  describe  them  would  be  useless.  They 
are  found  in  every  possible  form  and  shape,  scattered 
over  this  vast  space.  Sometimes  lofty  arches  towered 
over  our  heads,  wreathed  with  ivy,  and  crowned  by 
shrubs  and  bushes  waving  in  the  breeze,  and  then  we 
came  to  the  ruins  of  a  theatre,  where  the  circular  seats 
were  still  visible,  sixteen  centuries  after  the  audience 
had  been  turned  to  dust.  A  lono;  range  of  broken 
arches  in  a  most  picturesque  foi-m,  show  where  once 
the  Praetorian  guards  were  quartered,  and  the  massive 
remains  of  baths  mve  some  idea  of  the  mamiificence  of 
this  portion  of  the  palace.  Sometimes  our  guide  led  us 
under  ground  through  galleries  and  crypts,  on  the  ceil- 
ings of  which  are  still  seen  the  remains  of  fresco  paint- 
ings ;  and  then  clambering  over  fallen  columns  we  came 
to  the  edge  of  a  hill,  and  in  a  deserted  meadow  below 
we  saw  all  that  was  left  of  Hadrian's  Vale  of  Tempe. 
What  a  perfect  paradise  must  it  have  been  in  its  day, 

15 


226     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

when  human  ingenuity  had  here  exhausted  all  its  skill  I 
Let  the  imagination  rebuild  once  more  these  fallen 
piles ;  rear  these  crumbling  arches ;  transforai,  as  of 
old,  into  a  fairy  scene  these  groves  and  gardens ; 
and  we  can  scarcely  believe  that  there  ever  has  existed 
such  a  reality  in  this  every-day  world.  It  would 
rather  seem  some  artist's  glorious  dream,  or  what 
the  Italians  in  common  expression  call,  "  un  pezzo  di 
cielo  caduto  in  terra," — a  little  bit  of  heaven  fallen 
upon  the  earth. 

But  Time  here  has  not  been  the  only  spoiler.  For 
centuries  the  degenerate  Romans  used  these  ruins  as 
they  would  a  quarry,  and  plundered  them  for  porphyry 
and  marble  columns  to  adorn  their  palaces  and 
churches.  Their  excavations  indeed  brought  many 
gems  of  art  to  light,  for  here  were  found  the  Venus 
de  Medici,  the  celebrated  Vase  which  we  saw  in 
Warwick  Castle  in  England,  and  many  others  of 
those  beautiful  works  which  now  enrich  the  museums 
of  Europe.  But  the  work  of  desolation  is  at  length 
complete.  Lofty  trees  have  sprung  up  in  every  part, 
twining  their  roots  among  the  massive  stones,  and  thick 
vines  have  grown  over  the  fluted  columns,  so  that  you 
have  to  tear  them  aside  to  see  the  sculptures  on  their 
capitals.  Not  a  sound  was  heard  except  when,  the 
bee  hummed  about  us  as  he  flitted  among  the  wild 
flowers  to  gather  his  honey.  All  was  as  quiet  as  the 
first  Sabbath  after  the  Creation.  The  traces  of  man's 
luxury  were  rapidly  disappearing,  and  Nature  was 
again  claiming  this  beautiful  spot  for  her  own. 

At  this  villa  Hadrian  resided  when  he  was  seized 
with  his  last  and  fatal  illness.  Here  he  had  every- 
thing  gathered  around  him  to  make  life  happy,  and 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    227 

every  luxury  at  hand  wliicli  the  world  could  furnish. 
The  gems  of  art  filled  his  palaces,  and  from  the  por- 
tico in  front  he  had  a  distant  view  of  Rome  with  its 
many  towers  gleaming  in  the  sunlight  —  the  mag- 
nificent Metropolis  of  the  Earth,  of  which  he  was  the 
absolute  master.  How  hard  then  must  it  have  been 
for  him  to  see  the  gates  of  Eternity  opening  before 
him,  "  not  knowing  the  things  that  should  befall  him 
there ! "  Yet  amid  all  his  pomps  and  pleasures,  he 
seems  to  have  made  as  great  preparations  for  his 
death  as  for  his  life,  and  the  mightiest  monument  in 
Rome  is  the  one  he  reared  to  receive  his  remains. 
But  there,  as  elsewhere,  Time  has  made  sad  changes 
and  utterly  defeated  the  builder's  object.  The  Im- 
perial tomb  of  Hadrian  was  soon  perverted  to  be  a 
fortress  for  the  living  ;  its  sculptured  ornaments  were 
gradually  defaced  by  the  hand  of  violence  ;  Belisarius 
hurled  on  the  invading  Goths  the  beautiful  statues 
which  adorned  the  interior ;  and  now  it  stands  naked 
and  frowning,  as  the  Papal  Castle  of  St.  Angelo. 
Even  the  marble  sarcophagus  which  once  held  his  body 
has  been  seized  by  modern  spoilers,  and  now  holds  the 
ashes  of  Pope  Innocent  II. 

A  few  miles  further  and  we  leave  the  Campagna, 
commencing  the  ascent  of  the  hills  by  a  road  which 
winds  through  olive  groves  until  it  reaches  Tivoli. 
Bold  rocks  jutting  out  into  the  road ;  the  old  olive- 
trees,  with  their  gnarled  and  twisted  stems ;  simple 
iihrines  before  which  the  contradina  are  kneeling  in 
their  picturesque  costumes ;  and  above,  the  old  and 
hoary  ruins  of  two  thousand  years  —  these  are  the  fea- 
tures of  the  landscape.  The  peasantry  seemed  to  be 
enjoying  themselves  —  some,  basking  lazily  in  the  sun- 


228     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

shine,  inhaling  an  atmosphere,  which  to  breathe  is  lux- 
ury ;  and  some,  as  in  the  days  of  Virgil,  reclining 
sub  tegmine  fagi^  but  we  fear  that  in  this  accidental 
circumstance  alone  like  the  hero  of  the  First  Bucolic. 

There  are  few  places  about  which  linger  so  many 
classical  associations  as  Tivoli.  Five  centuries  before 
the  founding  of  Rome,  here  stood  the  ancient  Tibur, 
and  when  the  colonists  of  Romulus  had  gathered  on 
the  Seven  Hills,  they  found  it  a  powerful  rival  not  to 
be  reduced  until  after  years  of  warfare.  Then  it  be- 
came a  mere  suburb  of  Rome,  the  delightful  retreat 
of  its  patricians,  and  the  prison  of  its  captives.  Hither 
they  sent  Syphax,  King  of  Numidia,  and  here  he  ended 
his  days,  being  thus  saved  the  mortification  of  gracing 
the  triumph  of  Scipio  Africanus.  As  Livy  tells  us,  — 
"  Syphax  was  withdrawn  rather  from  the  gaze  of  the 
multitude,  than  from  the  glory  of  the  conqueror,  by 
dying  a  little  before  the  triumph,  at  Tibur."  ^  In  the 
Vatican,  however,  is  a  monumental  inscription  found  in 
this  place,  bearing  the  name  of  the  captive  king,  which 
expressly  states  that  he  was  led  in  the  triumph.  How 
the  fiery  African  fretted  away  his  life,  we  know  not, 
though  Poly  bins  tells  us  that  he  died  in  prison,  and 
Claudian  that  he  swallowed  poison,  — 

"  Haurire  venena 
Compulimus  dirum  Syphacem." 

Two  centuries  more  brought  the  days  of  Roman 
luxury,  when  the  same  beauty  of  scenery  which  now 
attracts  so  many  visitors,  made  it  the  favorite  residence 
of  poets,  philosophers,  and  statesmen,  and  tlie  ruins  of 
their  villas  are  still  scattered  about  through  the  lovely 
valleys  and  on  the  hill-sides.  Then,  its  praises  began 
1  Lib.  i.  c.  13. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     229 

to  be  sung  in  tlie  harmonious  measures  of  verse,  and 
thus  by  Roman  poets  the  name  of  TivoH  was  first  in- 
vested with  those  sweet  associations,  which  still  cling 
to  it  wherever  it  is  heard.  Virgil  bestowed  on  it  the 
epithet,  "  Superbum  Tibur,"  and  to  this  day  these 
words  are  borne  as  the  motto  on  the  city  arms.  Ca- 
tullus, who  was  a  wealthy  patrician  as  well  as  a  poet, 
had  here  his  villa,  in  whose  praises  he  delighted  to 
dwell ;  Propertius  pays  his  tribute  to  the  beauty  of 
these  hills  and  valleys ;  and  the  words  "  lucus  Ti- 
bumi "  often  occur  in  the  sweetest  lyrics  of  Horace. 
His  verses,  he  tells  us,  were  often  composed  when  wan- 
dering among  its  shady  groves,  — 

"  Circa  nemus,  uvidique 
Tiburis  ripas  operosa  parvus 
Carmina  fingo." 

That  he  had  a  villa  here,  we  do  not  believe,  nor  is 
any  credit  to  be  attached  to  the  scattered  ruins  which 
here  go  by  his  name.  ^  The  very  terms  he  uses  proves 
the  fact.  When  expressing  the  earnest  wish  that  he 
might  spend  his  declining  years  among  its  retreats,  his 
language  is  — 

"  Sit  meae  sedes  utinara  senectse." 

But  the  "  sit  utinam  "  shows  that  it  was  rather  a  hope 
fondly  cherished,  than  anything  which  he  had  realized. 
He  lived  in  a  day,  however,  when  the  Roman  Patricians 
delighted  to  patronize  genius,  and  here  at  the  table  of 
his  friend  Maecenas  and  the  other  lordly  patrons  whom 
he  celebrates  in  his  verses,  the  poet  was  undoubtedly 
often  found,  a  visitor  in  Tibur,  though  not  a  resident. 
Some  miles  distant,  in  a  little  valley  formed  by  the 
ridges  of  Mount  Lucretilis,  is  the  probable  site  of  Hor- 

1  Eustace,  ii.  70. 


230     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

ace's  modest  Sabine  farm.  There,  the  features  of  the 
landscape  so  graphically  portrayed  in  his  lines,  remain 
unchanged,  and  we  recognize  them  at  once.  Even 
"  the  pine  waving  over  the  villa,"  and  "  the  ilex 
spreading  around  the  rocks,"  as  they  shade  the  ruined 
wall  and  broken  mosaic  pavement,  still  mark  the  fidel- 
ity of  his  descriptions. 

Nearly  three  centuries  later,  and  a  captive  princess 
came  to  Tibur,  to  transfer  to  its  hills  the  regal  luxury 
of  the  East.  It  was  Zenobia,  Queen  of  Palmyra,  to 
whom  Aurelian  gave  his  palace  in  this  place,  and 
whose  daughter  he  elevated  to  his  throne  as  Em- 
press of  Rome.  How  must  the  haughty  spirit  of  the 
eastern  queen  have  chafed  within  her,  when  thus 
forced  to  live  within  sight  of  Imperial  Rome,  where 
a  captive  she  had  walked  to  grace  the  triumph  of  her 
conqueror !  The  memory  of  that  day,  when  exposed 
to  the  rude  gaze  of  a  Roman  populace,  she  formed  a 
part  of  the  same  pageant  with  gladiators,  and  wild 
beasts  from  the  East,  and  captives  from  Gaul,  and  the 
rich  and  gorgeous  treasures  of  her  own  palace  borne 
as  spoils  of  war,  must  have  recurred  with  crushing 
weight  to  the  mind  of  one  who  had  hitherto  been 
served  only  with  the  abject  servility  of  oriental  cere- 
mony. And  when  there  was  mingled  with  this,  the 
recollections  of  her  proud  Palmyra,  —  that  glorious 
city  of  the  desert,  —  we  may  well  believe,  that  among 
the  millions  who  owed  allegiance  to  Aurelian,  there  was 
no  one  more  wretched  than  the  mother  of  his  queen. 
But  all  her  magnificence  has  passed  away,  and  no 
traces  of  her  existence  here  remain,  except  the  ruins 
of  the  Baths  she  erected  on  the  Anio,  and  which  still 
retain  the  name  "  Bagni  di  Regina." 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    231 

With  the  Middle  Ages,  the  luxury  and  splendor  of 
Tivoli  —  for  in  the  eighth  century  it  had  taken  this 
name  —  passed  away,  and  it  became  the  centre  of 
strife  and  warfare.  Its  convenient  distance  from 
Rome  rendered  it  a  place  of  importance,  and  for  cen- 
turies it  was  deeply  concerned  in  all  the  struggles  be- 
tween the  Emperors  and  Popes  —  the  Guelphs  and 
Ghibellines.  Whenever  a  faction  was  expelled  from 
the  city,  its  adherents  passed  over  the  Campagna, 
made  here  their  first  halting-place,  and  fortifying 
themselves,  waited  the  opportunity  to  return.  It 
seemed  as  if  for  Tivoli  the  Iron  Age  had  been  re- 
newed. In  succession  it  became  a  stronghold  of  the 
powerful  houses  of  the  Colonna  and  the  Orsini.  Here, 
too,  for  a  time,  were  the  head-quarters  of  Rienzi,  and 
on  the  Square  of  San  Lorenzo  he  once  publicly  ha- 
rangued the  people  with  that  wild  eloquence,  which  so 
often  enabled  him  to  sway  the  minds  of  men,  and  from 
a  peasant  to  become  the  Tribune  of  Rome. 

A  miserable,  dirty  town,  filled  with  some  fifteen 
thousand  inhabitants,  as  ferocious  and  lawless  as  ages 
of  strife  and  misrule  could  make  them,  is  all  that  re- 
mains of  this  classical  and  once  powerful  place.  The 
contrast  between  the  old  Roman  elegance  and  the  din- 
ner they  furnished  us  at  the  inn  La  Regina^  was  as 
great  as  that  which  we  afterwards  found  at  Capua,  the 
vilest,  dirtiest  place  in  all  Italy,  but  which  we  only 
remembered  as  the  city  whose  luxury  enervated  the 
army  of  Hannibal.  We  passed  through  the  town, 
picking  up  a  guide  on  our  way,  and  commenced  a  sur- 
vey of  the  Falls.  These  are  certainly  exceedingly 
beautiful.  There  is  a  wide,  deep  valley,  the  circuit 
df  which  is  about  three  miles,  and  on  one  side,  half- 


232     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

way  up  the  mountain,  the  town  has  been  built.  Be- 
neath it,  far  below  its  foundations,  the  rocks  are  per- 
forated by  caverns,  out  of  which  and  all  around  the 
circle  of  the  romantic  glen,  the  cascades  come  dashing 
forth,  flinging  their  spray  into  the  air,  and  when  the 
sun  shines,  arched  by  the  most  beautiful  rainbows. 
There  are  more  than  twenty  of  these  wild  mountain 
torrents  seen  from  different  points,  as  you  ride  round 
the  terrace  which  forms  the  sides  of  the  valley.  It  is 
about  an  hundred  feet  to  the  bottom,  and  the  water 
rushes  down,  leaping  from  rock  to  rock,  and  beauti- 
fully contrasting  its  sheet  of  silvery  foam  with  the 
brilliant  verdure  of  the  valley  behind.  The  streams 
seem  to  race  forth  and  hurry  on  as  if  they  were  eager 
to  meet  below,  where  they  unite  in  the  quiet  river, 
and  glide  peacefully  away  together.  Every  step  va- 
ries and  changes  the  prospect.  At  one  time  the  foam- 
ing water  disappears  entirely  among  the  chasms  in  the 
rocks,  or  darts  away  behind  the  trees  and  drooping 
vines,  or  sinks  into  some  retired  grotto,  and  then  once 
more  suddenly  dashes  forth,  and  flings  itself  over  a 
precipice  in  one  dazzling  sheet  of  foam,  which  is  again 
lost  to  sight  in  the  dark  gulf  beneath.  Wilder  scenes 
I  have  seen  in  my  own  land,  yet  never  one  uniting 
so  much  of  the  grandeur  of  nature  witli  the  soft  and 
beautiful.  The  contrast  is  so  striking,  between  the 
brilKant  sunlight  above,  imparting  an  emerald  tint  to 
the  vines  and  shrubs  on  which  it  rests,  and  the  deep 
gloom  of  the  gulf  beneath. 

And  all  the  way  up  the  glen  for  miles  is  a  succession 
of  the  same  scenes  of  beauty.  At  times,  we  come  to 
a  spot  of  calm  and  peaceful  loveliness,  which  almost 
seems  to  have  escaped  the  curse,  and  reminds  us  of 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     233 

the  glory  of  Eden  before  the  earth  had  grown  aged, 
and  ceased  to  reflect  back  the  serenity  of  Heaven. 
Then  is  heard  ao;ain  the  murmur  of  the  httle  stream 
as  it  falls  over  the  rocks,  and  then,  a  little  further 
on,  not  a  sound  breaks  the  stillness,  as  we  reach  some 
retired  valley,  where  the  water  spreads  out  into  a  suc- 
cession of  little  mirrors,  in  whose  bosom  we  see  the 
deep  blue  of  the  sky  above,  — 

"  Bright  lakes,  those  glistening  eyes  of  solitude."  i 

Upon  a  lofty  crag,  on  the  very  edge  of  the  wild  cir- 
cular valley,  and  overlooking  the  picturesque  scene  we 
have  described,  stands  the  little  Temple  of  the  Tibur- 
tine  Sibyl.  It  is  a  light  and  fairy  thing,  not  more  than 
twenty  feet  in  diameter,  circular,  like  that  of  Vesta 
at  Rome,  and  surrounded  by  elegant  Corinthian  col- 
umns. What  rites  were  performed  there  we  know  not, 
or  what  deity  was  worshipped  in  this  picturesque  little 
fane,  yet  a  more  romantic  spot  could  not  have  been 
selected,  or  a  more  beautiful  shrine  built  for  any  faith. 
Visible  from  every  point  of  the  landscape,  it  might  well 
have  been  dedicated  to  the  nymph  of  these  gushing 
fountains.  It  seemed  in  perfect  character  with  the 
scene,  —  harmonizing  well  with  the  deep  foliage  around 
it,  and  the  lonely  torrent  on  which  it  looked  down, — 
resting  there  in  its  antique  beauty,  the  relic  of  an  age 
of  taste  and  elegance,  which  even  succeeding  barbarism 
had  not  the  heart  to  destroy. 

A  httle  further  on  is  the  iniined  Villa  of  Maecenas, 
where  the  patron  of  Virgil  and  Horace  passed  the 
months  of  summer  heat,  free  from  the  cares  of  states- 
manship.    It  looks  out  over  the  Campagna,  and  in  the 

1  The  Gipsies,  by  A.  P.  Stanley. 


234     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

distance  he  might  have  seen  the  Imperial  City,  with 
the  golden  towers  of  the  Capitol  soaring  high  above  it. 
Through  three  of  the  massive  arches  which  still  remain, 
the  torrent  has  found  its  way,  and  goes  dashing  on  until 
it  is  lost  in  the  valley  beneath.  We  returned  to  the 
town,  and  followed  our  guide  as  he  unlocked  a  gate, 
and  conducted  us  down  a  steep  and  rocky  path,  which 
led  to  the  bottom  of  the  glen.  Here,  among  the  vines, 
wet  with  spray,  stalactites  hang  about  glittering  like 
gems,  and  the  water  has  worn  its  way  into  the  soft 
rock,  forming  in  every  direction  strangely  shaped  grot- 
toes, where  the  moss  has  grown,  covering  them  like  a 
rich  carpet.  The  largest  is  called  the  Cavern  of  Nep- 
tune, though  it  would  much  more  appropriately  bear 
the  name  of  some  water  nymph. 

From  these  Alban  hills  —  which  we  cross  on  the  road 
from  Naples  —  the  traveller  should  always  have  his  first 
view  of  Rome,  if  he  would  avoid  disappointment.  On 
every  other  side  but  little  of  the  city  is  seen  until  you 
are  almost  under  its  walls.  Here,  on  the  contrary,  the 
Campagna  spreads  out  before  us  in  all  its  dreariness, 
and  from  the  Mediterranean  on  the  one  side,  to  the  Ap- 
ennines on  the  other,  we  have  one  wide  prospect  of  deso- 
lation, broken  only  here  and  there  by  a  few  scattered 
ruins,  while  in  the  centre  of  this  mighty  plain  rises  the 
city,  its  domes,  and  cupolas,  and  columns,  seen  at  a  single 
glance  from  the  distance  of  nearly  twenty  miles.  There 
is  something,  indeed,  awful  in  this  desolate  grandeur 
contrasting  so  strongly  with  the  glorious  landscape,  on 
whicli  Hannibal  and  Pyrrhus  gazed  from  this  very  spot. 

It  was  among  these  hills,  too,  that  Claude  painted 
many  of  his  landscapes.  His  house  still  stands  on  the 
Pincian  Mount,  near  the  Convent  of  Santa  Trinita,  so 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    235 

that  even  from  the  window  of  his  studio  he  looked  over 
Rome,  and  day  after  day  watched  the  changing  hghts, 
and  the  rich  glow,  which  he  has  transferred  so  faithfully 
to  his  canvas.  We  wonder  not,  indeed,  that  he  lin- 
gered among  such  scenes  !  In  our  own  land  we  have 
scenery  which  Salvator  Rosa  would  have  delighted  to 
paint,  yet  of  its  grand  features  we  may  become  weary. 
There  is  little  to  enlist  the  heart  and  the  affections. 
We  have  no  past.  But  we  can  never  tire  of  the  calm 
loveliness  of  an  Italian  landscape.  It  is  not  nature 
alone.  It  is  mingled  everywhere  with  those  graceful 
forms,  which  three  thousand  years  ago  art  assumed,  and 
which  have  still  survived,  only  more  beautiful  from  age. 
The  sun  was  going  down  in  cloudless  beauty  when 
we  commenced  our  descent  of  the  hills.  Its  beams 
lighted  up  the  distant  dome  of  St.  Peter's,  and  shed 
their  mellow  radiance  over  the  dreaiy  Campagna.  The 
whole  scene  was  bathed  in  a  flood  of  that  golden  light 
which  Raphael  has  painted  in  his  "  Transfiguration," 
imparting  even  an  air  of  cheerfulness  to  the  dark  cy- 
presses and  pines,  which  overshadowed  the  old  tombs 
on  the  plain  below.  Then  came  the  gradual  change. 
The  rich  purple  which  crested  the  hills  melted  from 
our  sight,  as  one  by  one  the  stars  came  out.  The 
golden  tints  faded  from  the  landscape,  lingered  awhile 
longer  in  the  western  sky,  and  then  were  exchanged 
for  that  deep  blue  which  characterizes  the  brief  Italian 
night.  With  the  windows  closed  to  escape  the  deadly 
malaria  which  was  rising  around,  we  drove  rapidly  on, 
and  by  eight  o'clock  were  once  more  within  the  gates 
of  the  city. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE    CHURCHES    OF    ROME. 

T  was  not  suddenly  that  the  reign  of  Pagan- 
ism ended  in  Rome.  Its  decline  was  grad- 
ual and  slow.  One  light  after  another 
faded  away,  until  its  shrines  were  left  in 
darkness.  The  old  behef  had  to  pass  through  many 
stages  before  its  power  was  ended,  and  it  was  num- 
bered with  those  forsiotten  forms  of  faith  which  have 
had  their  day.  It  first  ceased  to  be  a  popular  religion 
and  lost  its  hold  upon  the  hearts  of  the  multitude  ; 
then,  it  passed  into  a  system  of  philosophy  for  the 
learned ;  and  ere  it  expired,  had  still  further  degener- 
ated into  a  mere  allegory  to  employ  the  ingenuity  of 
its  disciples.  Long,  however,  it  lingered,  even  after 
Christianity  had  become  dominant,  and  none  dared  to 
confess  openly  their  allegiance  to  its  rival.  It  was  not 
until  A.  D.  410,  that  we  can  look  for  its  last  expiring 
throes.  When  in  that  year,  for  the  first  time  the  Im- 
perial City  was  occupied  by  the  invaders,  a  shock  was 
felt  throughout  the  world,  and  men  wildly  turned  to 
any  cause  which  might  account  for  her  fall.  Many,  in 
their  despair,  ascribed  this  disastrous  consummation  to 
the  new  religion,  and  to  win  back  the  gods  they  sup- 
posed had  forsaken  them,  offered  for  the  last  time  sacri- 
fices at  their  long-deserted  shrines. 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    237 

But  as  step  by  step  Paganism  retreated,  Chris- 
tianity followed  hard  upon  its  footsteps.  When  the 
fires  had  gone  out  on  its  altars,  and  no  more  worship- 
pers crowded  its  temples,  the  hew  faith  at  once  suc- 
ceeded to  them  as  spoils  won  in  the  conflict  she  was 
waging  ;  and  it  is  to  this  cause  —  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Pantheon  —  we  may  probably  ascribe  the  preservation 
of  some  of  these  relics  of  antiquity.  They  were  gen- 
erally, however,  too  contracted  ;  the  interior,  or  pene- 
tralia^ being  only  intended  to  receive  the  images  of 
the  gods,  and  not  adapted,  therefore,  to  the  meeting  of 
assemblies  which  had  now  become  numerous. 

The  Christians  naturally  turned  then  to  the  Basili- 
cas^ or  Halls  of  Justice,  some  of  which,  as  the  popu- 
lation of  the  city  decreased,  or  perhaps  as  the  govern- 
ment grew  more  absolute,  became  useless.  And  most 
admirably  did  they  answer  the  purpose  of  Christian 
worship.  The  large  area  and  the  long  aisles  seemed 
built  to  accommodate  a  numerous  audience,  while  the 
semicircular  retreat  (^apsis)  at  the  end,  elevated  on  its 
flight  of  steps,  needed  but  little  change  to  prepare  it 
for  the  Bishop  and  his  Presbyters.  Several  of  these 
were  therefore  granted  by  the  Christian  Emperors  to 
the  Church,  and  consecrated  for  the  performance  of 
their  services.  But  yet  this  new  consecration  of  hea- 
then temples  seemed  often  insufficient  to  expel  the 
Paganism  which  lingered  about  their  walls,  or  to 
change  the  associations  with  which  a  half-Christianized 
people  regarded  the  spot.  And  in  some  cases  we  trace 
these  feelings  existing  even  to  this  day.  Under  the 
brow  of  the  Palatine  Hill  is  a  circular  building,  once 
the  Temple  of  Romulus,  to  which  the  women  of  an- 
cient Rome  were  accustomed  to  can-y  then-  children 


238     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

when  ill,  that  the  priests  might  pray  for  their  recovery. 
It  is  now  the  Church  of  St.  Theodore,  and  you  may  at 
any  time  see  the  women  of  modern  Rome  carrying 
thither  their  children  on  the  same  occasions. 

You  have  been  with  us,  gentle  reader,  in  a  ramble 
through  the  palaces  of  Rome,  where  historical  associa- 
tions crowd  upon  the  mind,  and  miracles  of  art  meet 
the  eye  on  every  side  :  shall  we  make  also  a  pilgrim- 
age to  some  of  her  churches  ?  Few  indeed  will  there 
be  time  to  visit,  —  half  a  dozen  perhaps,  selected  from 
some  two  hundred,  —  yet  you  will  find  them  no  less  in- 
teresting than  the  feudal  residences  of  her  nobility. 
The  traces  of  antiquity  are  there  also,  for  you  can  stand 
within  the  walls  where  they  worshipped,  who  for  four- 
teen centuries  have  been  hymning  praises  in  the  Para- 
dise of  God.  There,  too,  painting  and  sculpture  have 
placed  their  noblest  works,  for  you  are  among  a  people, 
the  spirit  of  whose  faith  it  is,  to  dedicate  the  best  they 
have  to  their  Lord.  No  Gothic  architecture  indeed  is 
seen,  with  its  painted  windows  and  "dim  rehgious 
light :  "  for  this,  you  must  resort  to  Milan  and  study 
its  magnificent  Cathedral.  And  yet,  when  you  wander 
through  one  of  the  churches  in  Rome,  you  feel  that 
Genius  has  written  on  every  side  the  traces  of  its  pres- 
ence. "  Incense-breathing  "  chapels  are  about  you  — 
and  delicate  carvings  wrought  out  from  the  marble  as 
if  it  could  be  moulded  up  at  will  —  and  all  so  rich 
and  quaint  and  clerkly,  that  you  scarcely  feel  the 
want  of  that  solemn  architecture,  which  in  Northern 
Europe  seems  alone  to  be  ecclesiastical. 

The  mere  literary  man  turns  with  the  deepest  inter- 
est to  the  Church  of  St.  Onofrio^  for  the  adjoining 
monastery  of  the  hermits  of  St.  Jerome  is  consecrated 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    239 

as  the  place  where  the  author  of  "  Genisalemme  Lib- 
erata  "  breathed  his  last.  Strange  and  sorrowful  had 
been  his  pilgrimage  through  life !  At  one  time  flat- 
tered at  the  most  brilliant  courts ;  then  wanderinor 
through  the  land  which  was  ringing  with  his  genius, 
yet  wayworn,  unknown,  and  in  poverty ;  then  a  pris- 
oner in  the  dungeons  of  Ferrara,  —  he  had  come  at 
last  to  Rome,  where  it  seemed  as  if  he  was  to  receive 
a  reward  for  all  his  trials.  He  was  soon  to  be  solemnly 
crowned  with  laurel  at  the  Capitol,  yet  ere  the  day 
for  the  ceremony  arrived,  there  were  symptoms  that 
the  springs  of  life  were  giving  way,  and  he  was  con- 
veyed to  the  monastery  of  St.  Onofrio. 

In  this  garden  looking  over  Rome,  and  blending, 
in  the  mind  of  one  who  gazes  from  its  ten-aces,  a 
sense  of  the  present  beauty  of  nature  with  a  remem- 
brance of  the  ancient  glory  of  the  city,  Tasso  was  ac- 
customed to  sit.  The  poor  monks  will  point  out  to  you 
the  very  spot.  It  was  there  where  a  noble  oak  once 
cast  its  shade,  but  three  years  ago  an  autumn  storm 
uprooted  it.  In  those  cloisters  is  the  room  in  which 
he  died :  and  as  you  enter  the  Church,  turn  to  your 
left,  and  you  will  see  a  plain  marble  slab,  with  the  sim- 
ple inscription,  — 

"  TORQUATI   TASSO    OSSA." 

And  thus  sleeps  the  first  epic  poet  of  Italy  —  a 
brilUant  spirit,  which,  with  the  customary  reward  of 
genius,  passed  through  life  in  sorrow  and  pain.  Yet 
no  poetic  visions  filled  his  mind,  as  in  feebleness  he 
paced  the  walks  and  cloisters  of  this  old  monastery. 
He  had  done  with  human  praise  forever,  and  was 
girding  up  his  spirit  for  the  realities  of  the   world  to 


240     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

come.  "  I  have  come  to  this  monastery  of  St.  Ono- 
frio,"  he  wrote  to  his  best  friend,  a  few  days  before 
his  death,  "not  only  because  the  air  is  commended 
by  physicians,  as  more  salubrious  than  in  any  other 
part  of  Rome,  but  that  I  may,  as  it  were,  commence 
in  this  high  place,  and  in  the  conversation  of  these 
devout  fathers,  my  conversation  in  heaven.  Pray 
God  for  me  ;  and  be  assured  that  as  I  have  loved  and 
honored  you  in  this  present  life,  so  in  that  other  and 
more  real  life  will  I  do  for  you  all  that  belongs  to  char- 
ity unfeigned  and  true,  and  to  the  Divine  Mercy  I  re- 
commend both  you  and  myself." 

We  were  wandering  one  morning  about  the  Esqui- 
line,  when  we  found  ourselves  near  the  Church  of  San 
Clemente^  probably  the  least  changed  from  ancient  times 
of  any  in  Rome.  The  quarter  of  the  city  in  which  it 
stands  is  nearly  deserted.  Vacant  squares  —  grass- 
grown  streets  —  and  mouldering  ruins,  show  how  the 
wave  of  population  has  receded  from  the  spot.  Wish- 
ing a  cicerone^  we  entered  the  Dominican  monastery- 
adjoining  the  Church,  but  all  there  was  as  silent  as  it 
was  without.  We  traversed  the  long  stone  passages 
without  meeting  any  of  the  monks,  and  at  last  deter- 
mined to  explore  the  Church  ourselves.  The  interior 
transports  us  back  at  once  to  the  early  centuries  of  our 
faith.  There,  on  an  elevated  platform,  and  divided 
from  the  rest  of  the  Church  by  two  gates,  are  the  apsis 
or  tribune,  the  ancient  altar,  and  the  episcopal  seat. 
In  front  is  the  marble  inclosure,  having  on  the  sides 
the  amhones  or  marble  pulpits  from  which  the  Epistle 
and  Gospel  were  read.  The  aisles  terminate  in  two 
recesses,  anciently  called  Exedrce  or  Cellce^  and  then 
appropriated  to  private  devotion  in  prayer  and  med- 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLY  DAYS  IN  ROME.    241 

itation.  They  are  now  converted  into  chapels.  This 
is  probably  the  only  Church  which  preserves  the  form 
of  the  old  Basilicas.  It  is  mentioned  as  ancient  by 
authors  of  the  fourth  century,  and  though  often  re- 
paired and  decorated,  has  never  been  deprived  of  its 
primitive  shape  and  fashion. 

Let  us  pass  on  a  short  distance  and  we  come  to  the 
Church  of  S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli,  Its  name  and  the 
chain  sculptured  over  the  portal  give  an  explanation 
of  its  object.  It  is  intended  to  preserve  the  chain 
with  which  St.  Peter  was  bound  when  a  prisoner  in 
Jerusalem,  and  on  the  first  of  August  this  holy  relic 
is  shown  pubhcly  to  the  people. 

Much  more  interesting,  however,  to  the  visitor  is 
Michael  Angelo's  celebrated  statue  of  Moses,  which  is 
considered  by  many  to  rival  the  grandest  productions 
of  the  Grecian  chisel.  It  is  colossal  in  its  size,  and 
represents  him  with  that  sternness  upon  his  counte- 
nance which  we  may  imagine  was  imprinted  there 
when  he  rebuked  the  idolatry  of  his  people.  It  was 
intended  as  one  of  forty  statues  which  were  to  orna- 
ment the  tomb  of  Julius  II.  The  monument,  however, 
was  never  executed,  only  five  of  the  statues  being  fin- 
ished at  the  time  of  Michael  Angelo's  death.  Of 
these,  three  are  in  this  Church ;  one  is  in  Paris ;  and 
the  fifth  in  the  Boboli  Gardens  in  Florence.  The 
Pope  himself  was  buried  in  the  Vatican. 

There  is  a  peculiarity  about  this  figure,  which,  majes- 
tic as  it  is,  has  often  exposed  it  to  ridicule.  On  each 
side  of  the  head  of  Moses,  a  small  horn  is  just  budding 
forth.  "  One  critic,"  says  Forsyth,  "  compares  his 
head  to  a  goat's ; "  and  we  often  see  the  same  pecul- 
iarity in  paintings  of  the  Middle  Ages.     What  does  it 

16 


242     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

mean?  I  have  never  seen  any  explanation  given,  but 
the  following  struck  me  as  being  a  natural  solution. 
In  the  original  Hebrew  the  same  word,  D"^D"ip,  is  used 
both  for  horns  and  rays  of  lights  and  it  was  of  course 
easy  to  confound  them.  When  therefore  it  is  said 
in>  Exodus  xxxiv.  29,  that  as  Moses  came  down  from 
the  Mount,  "he  wist  not  that  the  skin  of  his  face 
shone,"  the  Vulgate  —  the  version  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  —  renders  it,  "  Et  ignorabat  quod  cornuta  esset 
facies  sua ;  "  "  and  he  did  not  know  that  his  face  was 
horned."  It  was  this  phrase,  then,  which  probably  led 
to  the  mistake,  and  accounts  for  the  manner  in  which 
both  painters  and  sculptors  were  accustomed  to  rep- 
resent the  Jewish  Lawgiver.  In  our  own  version,  in- 
deed, precisely  the  same  mistake  is  made  with  this 
word  in  another  passage.  In  Habakkuk  it  says,  "He 
had  horns  coming  out  of  his  hand."  It  should,  of 
course,  be  rays  of  light. 

We  pass  on  to  the  magnificent  Basilica  of  S.  Maria 
Maggiore^  the  noblest  Church  in  Rome  dedicated  to 
the  Virgin,  and  hence  its  name.  It  stands  in  an  open 
square,  and  the  exterior  is  richly  ornamented,  while 
the  nave  in  the  interior  is  nearly  three  hundred  feet  in 
length.  The  elaborately  carved  roof  is  richly  gilded, 
and  derives  an  additional  interest  from  the  fact,  that 
the  gold  used  was  the  first  ever  brought  to  Europe 
from  Peru.  It  was  presented  to  Alexander  VI.  by 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  of  Spain.  Now  and  then  the 
great  services  of  the  Church  are  performed  in  this 
splendid  Basilica;  as  on  Christmas  Eve,  when  the 
Cradle  of  our  Lord  is  carried  in  procession  ;  and  on 
the  festivals  of  the  Assumption  and  the  Nativity  of 
the  Virgin,  when  the  Pope  himself  performs  High 
Mass  at  its  altar. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.   243 

Just  behind  it,  however,  is  a  Httle  Church  not  often 
visited,  but  which  once  in  the  year  is  the  scene  of 
some  strange  ceremonies.  It  is  dedicated  to  St.  An- 
thony, the  patron  of  the  brute  creation,  and  every 
January,  when  liis  Festival  comes  round,  there  is.  a 
service  for  their  especial  benefit.  The  first  time  I  wit- 
nessed it,  I  was  involuntarily  a  participant  to  some 
extent  in  the  ceremony.  We  were  riding  with  a  lady, 
when  crossing  the  open  square  a  priest  in  his  surpKce 
was  seen  standing  on  the  steps  of  this  httle  Church, 
while  one  carriage  after  another  was  driving  up  to  it, 
stopping  before  him  for  a  few  minutes,  and  then  pass- 
ing; on  to  make  room  for  others. 

"  What,"  she  inquired  of  the  courier,  "  are  they 
doing  there  ?  '* 

"  Blessing  the  horses,  Madame." 

"  Then  tell  the  coachman  to  drive  up,  and  we  will 
have  ours  blessed." 

So  accordingly  up  he  drove.  The  servants  rev- 
erently took  off  their  hats,  and  the  priest  commenced 
reading  a  prayer  from  his  book.  When  he  had  fin- 
ished, he  took  a  brush  from  the  hand  of  an  attendant, 
dipped  it  in  a  bucket  of  holy  water  at  his  feet,  and 
sprinkled  the  horses,  repeating  the  words,  — 

,"Per  intercessionem  Beati  Antonii  Abatis,  haec 
animalia  liberenter,  a  malis,  in  nomine  Patris,  et  Filu, 
et  Spiritus  Sancti.  Amen."  (Through  the  interces- 
sion of  the  blessed  Abbot  Anthony,  may  these  animals 
be  delivered  from  evil,  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     Amen). 

A  small  fee  was  handed  to  the  priest,  and  we  con- 
tinued our  ride.  For  several  days  this  service  is  con- 
stantly going   on.     The  following   Sunday,  however, 


244     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLY  DAYS  IN  ROME. 

was  the  great  day.  Then,  the  Square  was  crowded 
with  animals,  and  thousands  of  people  were  there  as 
spectators.  The  magnificent  carriages  of  the  Pope, 
each  drawn  by  six  horses,  and  the  scarcely  less  splen- 
did equipages  of  the  Cardinals  and  the  Roman  princes 
came  up,  to  go  through  the  ceremony.  Long  rows  of 
post-horses  arrived  from  different  parts  of  the  city, 
and  the  mules  of  the  peasantry  from  the  country, 
decked  out  in  ribbons  and  flowers,  while  their  masters 
were  in  all  their  best  array.  A  friend  told  me,  that 
on  one  of  these  days  he  saw  a  young  man  drag  up  to 
the  church  door  a  miserable  looking  little  dog,  which 
he  held  by  a  string  while  the  service  was  read,  and 
the  poor  cur  received  his  share  of  holy  water. 

What  is  the  precise  meaning  of  this  ceremony? 
Or,  what  particular  benefit  are  the  animals  expected 
to  derive  from  this  service,  which  seems  like  an  in- 
ferior kind  of  baptism  ?  These  are  questions  to  which 
it  is  difficult  to  procure  definite  answers.  In  "  Ger- 
aldine,"  however,  a  book  published  in  defense  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  and  recommended  by  Bishop  Ken- 
rick,  as  "  a  work  of  great  interest,  directed  to  remove 
prejudice,  and  present  the  light  of  truth,"  is  a  defense 
of  this  service,  from  which  we  make  the  following  quo- 
tation, — 

"  '  But  what  good  did  all  the  blessing  and  sprinkling 
do  the  cattle,  and  their  owners,'  said  Miss  Leonard, 
'  when  they  left  the  good  monk,  just  as  vicious  and 
distempered  as  when  they  came  to  him  ? '  " 

" '  That  is  indeed  begging  the  question,'  said  Ger- 
aldine  \  *•  1  do  not  believe  that  the  cattle  were  so  much 
90  after  the  blessing  as  before,'  "  ^ 

1  Vol.  iii.  p.  40. 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME,    245 

In  another  work  of  fiction,  also,  we  lately  found  a 
rather  more  complete  summing  up  of  the  benefits,  as 
given  by  an  Italian  peasant,  —  "  Is  it  not  a  good  horse 
which  we  have?  then  it  has  also  had  this  year  St. 
Antonio's  blessing ;  my  fellow  decked  him  out  witli 
bunches  of  silken  ribbons,  opened  the  Bible  before 
him,  and  sprinkled  him  witli  holy  water ;  and  no  devil, 
or  evil  eye,  can  have  any  influence  on  him  this 
year."  ^ 

From  the  Basilica  of  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  a  broad, 
deserted  avenue  leads  to  that  of  St,  John  Lateran. 
This  section  of  the  city,  indeed,  seems  scarcely  in- 
habited, an  air  of  desolation  pervades  it,  and  the  ma- 
laria reigns  on  every  side.  And  yet,  a  few  centuries 
affo  the  Lateran  Palace  was  esteemed  the  most  salu- 
brious  residence  in  Rome.  Now  it  stands  deserted,  and 
as  we  look  around,  we  see  open  fields  and  vineyards 
among  the  decaying  houses,  and  silent  moss-grown 
squares. 

This  magnificent  Basilica  was  commenced  by  Con- 
stantine  in  the  fourth  century,  he  assisting  with  his  own 
hands  to  dig  the  fovindation.  He  had  previously  con- 
ferred upon  the  Church  the  adjoining  Lateran  Palace, 
—  so  called  from  Plautius  Lateranus,  who  was  put  to 
death  by  Nero  for  being  engaged  in  the  conspiracy  of 
Piso,  —  the  beginning  of  those  gifts  to  the  Bishop  of 
Rome,  whicli  drew  forth  the  comments  of  Dante,  when 
he  thus  lamented  the  system  it  originated,  — 

"Ah,  Constantine!  to  how  much  ill  gave  birth, 
Not  thy  conversion,  but  that  plenteous  dower, 
Which  the  first  wealthy  Father  gained  from  thee."  2 

For  a  thousand  years  this  palace  was  the  residence 

1  The  Improvisatore,  vol.  i.  p.  29G.  2  /;  Inferno,  xix.  18. 


246    THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

of  the  Popes  —  the  scene  of  all  the  licentiousness  and 
fierce  feuds  of  the  Middle  Ages,  which  finally  wearied 
out  men's  minds,  and  prepared  them  to  welcome  the 
changes  of  the  Reformation.  The  ceremony  of  taking 
possession  of  the  palace  is  still  the  first  form  used  after 
the  election  of  the  new  Pope,  although  it  has  long 
ceased  to  be  the  Pontifical  residence.  In  1693  Inno- 
cent XII.  turned  it  into  an  hospital  for  the  poor,  and 
in  the  last  year  a  portion  has  been  set  apart  for  a  mu- 
seum, to  receive  those  works  of  art  for  which  no  room 
can  be  found  in  the  Vatican. 

The  Church  itself  has  always  been  regarded  as  the 
first  of  Christian  churches,  and  bears  over  its  portal  the 
proud  inscription, —  "  Sacrosanct  a  Lateranensis  Ec- 

CLESIA,  OMNIUM    URBIS    ET    ORBIS    EcCLESIARUM    MATER 

ET  CAPUT."  Its  Chapter  still  takes  precedence  over 
that  of  St.  Peter's,  and  thus,  for  fifteen  centuries,  it 
has  retained  its  privileges. 

The  exterior  of  the  building  is  of  a  ponderous  yet 
sumptuous  architecture.  It  is,  however,  of  that  kind, 
overloaded  with  ornament,  which  seems  to  leave  no 
definite  impression  on  the  mind.  It  has  been  truly 
remarked,  that  no  one  can  look  for  half  an  hour  at  the 
simple  Grecian  temples  at  Psestum,  without  being  able 
to  make  a  rough  sketch  of  them,  while  few  of  those 
even  who  have  spent  a  winter  at  Kome,  could  give 
on  paper  any  idea  of  the  front  of  S.  Maria  Maggiore  or 
St.  John  Lateran.  The  interior  has  a  most  imposing 
effect  from  the  multitude  of  pillars  which  are  seen, 
nearly  three  hundred  being  employed.  There  are 
five  aisles,  divided  by  four  rows  of  piers.  Its  decora- 
tions, too,  are  rich  in  the  extreme,  corresponding  with 
the  rank,  antiquity,  and  magnitude  of  the  Basilica. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    247 

The  bronze  tomb  of  Martin  V.,  of  the  princely  house 
of  Colonna ;  the  Corsini  Chapel,  covered  with  the  rich- 
est marbles,  and  bas-reliefs^  and  gems  ;  and  the  Gothic 
tabernacle  above  the  High  Altar,  constructed  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  to  receive  the  heads  of  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul,  which  happened  then  to  be  discovered 
among  the  ruins  of  the  old  BasiHca,  are  unsurpassed 
in  magnificence  by  anything  in  Rome. 

The  devout  Romanist  visits  this  Church  with  rever- 
ence, on  account  of  its  multitude  of  precious  relics. 
They  are  varied  in  their  character,  and  certainly  won- 
derful in  their  claims.  There  are  divers  pillars,  some 
of  which  are  from  Pilate's  house,  and  one  belonged  to 
the  Temple  at  Jerusalem.  It  bears  marks  of  the  earth- 
quake which  took  place  at  the  Crucifixion,  having  been 
at  that  time  split  in  two.  Here  is  a  piece  of  the  table 
on  which  our  Lord  and  His  disciples  leaned  when  they 
ate  the  Last  Supper;  and  on  that  slab  of  marble  the 
Roman  soldiers  cast  lots,  when  they  divided  the  gar- 
ments of  Christ.  You  cannot  doubt  the  legend,  for  the 
stone  itself  bears  the  inscription,  —  "  Et  super  vestem 
meam  miserunt  sortem."  The  one,  however,  which 
the  priest  evidently  shows  with  the  highest  degree  of 
satisfaction,  is  a  marble  altar,  the  very  sight  of  which 
settles  a  theological  difficulty,  and  should  be  sufficient 
to  convert  a  heretic.  A  miracle,  they  tell  us,  was 
wrought  upon  it  to  prove  the  doctrine  of  transubstan- 
tiation.  A  priest,  who  had  suffered  some  impious 
doubts  on  this  point  to  enter  his  mind,  was  once  stand- 
ing before  it  consecrating  the  elements,  when  as  soon  as 
the  prayer  had  been  pronounced,  and  the  change  taken 
place,  the  holy  wafer  fell  from  his  hand,  and  sunk 
through  the  marble,  leaving  the  marks  of  blood  as  it 


248     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

went.  The  hole  through  which  it  passed,  and  the  stain 
it  made,  are  both  before  you  !  This  miracle  took  place 
at  Bolsena,  and  in  the  Vatican  is  a  fresco,  by  Raphael, 
intended  to  illustrate  it.  On  one  side  of  the  altar 
stands  the  priest,  for  whose  benefit  the  wonder  had 
taken  place,  regarding  the  wafer  with  astonishment 
and  reverence,  while  behind  him  are  the  choir  boys, 
and  people  pressing  forward,  with  awe  and  curiosity  on 
their  countenances.  On  the  other  side,  Julius  II.  is 
kneeling  in  prayer,  attended  by  his  Cardinals  and 
Swiss  guards. 

But  the  student  of  ecclesiastical  history  has  better 
reasons  to  enlist  his  interest  in  this  ancient  Church. 
Five  General  Councils,  from  the  twelfth  to  the  six- 
teenth century,  met  within  its  walls.  In  one  of  them, 
which  was  held  a.  d.  1215,  were  present,  the  Patriarchs 
of  Constantinople  and  Jerusalem,  four  hundred  Bishops, 
and  Ambassadors  of  France,  England,  Hungary,  Ara- 
gon,  Sicily,  and  Cyprus.  Here,  too,  for  many  centuries 
the  Popes  were  always  elected,  and  thus  from  these 
walls  proceeded  that  influence  which  was  to  be  felt 
throughout  the  Christian  world. 

These  were  the  recollections  which  crowded  our 
minds  as  we  stood  within  this  silent  Church,  where 
no  sound  was  heard  but  the  scarcely  audible  voice  of  a 
priest  celebrating  the  Mass  in  a  distant  chapel.  And 
particularly  we  thought  of  the  strange  scene  which  took 
place  when  these  arches  rang  with  the  name  of  Hilde- 
brand,  as  he  was  thus  suddenly  summoned  to  the  Ponti- 
fical throne.  It  was  on  a  morning  of  April,  1073,  that 
before  this  High  Altar  stood  the  bier  of  Pope  Alexander 
II.,  while  the  whole  building  was  densely  crowded  with 
those  who  had  come  to  witness  the  frmeral  services, 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    249 

The  solemn  requiem  was  wailing  forth,  and  all  were 
uniting  in  its  petitions  to  commend  the  soul  of  the  de- 
parted Pontiff  to  its  Judge,  when  suddenly  the  softened 
strain  was  overwhelmed  by  a  shout.  None  could  tell 
by  whom  it  was  commenced,  for  it  seemed  to  burst  at 
once  from  every  part  of  the  edifice.  The  mighty  crowd 
which  had  gathered  there  appeared  to  have  but  one 
voice.  The  cry  was,  "  Hildebrand."  "  Hildebrand 
shall  be  Pope."  "  St.  Peter  chooses  our  Archdeacon 
Hildebrand."  In  vain  did  the  subject  of  this  uproar 
rush  from  the  ftmeral  procession  to  the  pulpit,  and,  by 
impassioned  gestures,  implore  silence.  Ten  thousand 
voices  echoed  the  cry,  —  it  swelled  louder  and  louder, 
—  nor  did  it  cease  till  a  Cardinal  came  forward  and  an- 
nounced, that  "  we,  the  Cardinal  Bishops,  do,  with  one 
voice,  elect  Hildebrand  to  be  henceforth  your  spiritual 
pastor  and  our  own."  Eagerly  was  he  hurried  to  the 
Pontifical  throne  ;  arrayed  hastily  in  the  scarlet  robe 
and  tiara ;  the  Cardinals  paid  their  obeisance,  and  the 
still  louder  shouts  of  the  people  hailed  him  as  Gregory 
VII.  Thus  on  this  spot  was  consummated  an  election 
which  was  to  result  in  crushing  the  feudal  despotism 
of  the  age,  wresting  all  sacerdotal  power  from  the 
hands  of  the  Emperor,  and  triumphantly  asserting  the 
loftiest  claims  of  the  Hierarchy,  until  the  Roman  Pon- 
tiff became  the  ruler  of  the  civilized  world.  Nearly 
eight  centuries  have  since  gone  by,  but  the  spirit  of 
Gregory  is  living  still  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  It  bears 
in  its  whole  organization  the  impress  of  his  gigantic 
character.  In  every  department,  —  in  its  very  frame 
and  groundwork,  —  we  can  trace  the  influence  of 
that  tumultuous  hour  which  then  passed  within  these 
walls. 


250     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

We  left  the  Church,  and  stood  for  some  time  on  its 
steps  looking  at  the  deserted  avenues  and  squares 
around  it.  Directly  in  front  towers  up  an  obelisk, 
the  loftiest  in  Rome.  It  rises  in  the  air  nearly  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet,  a  single  shaft  of  red  granite, 
covered  with  hieroglyphics.  Rameses  erected  it  in 
Thebes,  and  Pliny  tells  us  that  he  lived  during  the 
Trojan  war.  A  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  men 
had  been  employed  in  cutting  it  from  its  native  quarry, 
and  there  for  ages  it  stood,  under  the  burning  sun  of 
Egypt,  and  among  its  massive  temples.  Strange  and 
mysterious  rites  were  performed  around  it ;  new  creeds 
grew  up ;  revolutions  rolled  on  ;  dynasties  passed 
away  ;  and  as  the  centuries  went  by,  it  beheld  one 
kingdom  after  another  crumble  into  ruins  at  its  base. 
At  length,  the  people  who  reared  it  ceased  to  be  a  na- 
tion, —  their  antique  faith  vanished  from  the  earth,  — 
and  the  land  around  became  once  more  a  desert.  Then 
came  an  iron  race  from  the  distant  West,  and  after 
years  of  toil  it  was  removed  to  gratify  the  pride  of  a 
Roman  Emperor.  Fourteen  centuries  have  since  passed, 
and  we  behold  it  now  as  fresh  and  unchano;ed  as  when 
it  stood  in  the  heart  of  Egypt,  and  the  priests  of  Isis 
looked  upon  it  towering  above  their  Sacred  Groves. 
It  still  bears  upon  its  sides  the  chronicles  of  forgotten 
ages,  but  modern  wisdom  cannot  decipher  their  strange 
characters.  What  a  history  could  that  old  obelisk  re- 
late, and  to  what  a  mysterious  and  shadowy  antiquity 
does  it  carry  back  the  mind  ! 

On  one  side  of  the  Basilica  stands  the  Baptistery,  a 
small  octagonal  building  which  is  said  to  have  been 
erected  by  the  Emperor  Constantine,  and  though  fre- 
quently repaired,  yet  it  has  always  been  done  in  ac- 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    251 

cordance  with  its  original  design.  This  account  of  its 
erection  may  be  true,  for  it  is  the  unvarying  testimony 
of  tradition.  Within  it  is  a  large  porphyry  vase  which 
is  always  shown  as  the  one  in  which  Constantine  re- 
ceived the  rite  of  Baptism.  And  yet,  it  is  a  fact  proved 
by  the  authority  of  all  Greek  and  Latin  writers,  that 
the  first  Christian  Emperor  was  not  initiated  into  the 
Church  until  sinking  beneath  his  last  mortal  sickness, 
and  then,  the  service  was  performed  in  a  distant  land. 
Theodoret  says,  "  The  Emperor  was  taken  ill  at  Ni- 
comedia,  a  city  of  Bithynia.  Being  thus  led  to  reflect 
on  the  uncertainty  of  life,  he  received  the  holy  rite  of 
Baptism,  which  he  had  intended  to  have  defen'ed  until 
he  could  be  baptized  in  the  river  Jordan."  ^  And  Soc- 
rates confirms  it  with  his  authority  :  —  "In  the  follow- 
ing year  the  Emperor  Constantine  was  attacked  with 
a  dangerous  malady  ;  he  therefore  left  Constantinople, 
and  made  a  voyage  to  Helenopolis,  to  try  the  effect  of 
its  medicinal  hot  springs.  Perceiving,  however,  that 
his  illness  increased,  he  deferred  the  use  of  the  baths ; 
and  removing  from  Helenopolis  to  Nicomedia,  he  took 
up  his  residence  in  the  suburbs,  and  there  received 
Christian  Baptism."  ^  This  fact,  indeed,  has  always 
been  one  of  the  mysteries  of  ecclesiastical  history.  More 
than  twenty-five  years  had  passed  since  he  avowed 
himself  a  Christian,  before  he  took  the  very  first  step 
in  the  profession  of  our  faith.  Was  it  from  supersti- 
tion, because  he  believed  that  Baptism  washed  away 
all  sins  of  the  past,  and  therefore  it  was  well  to  defer 
it  as  late  as  possible  ?  Or,  was  it  because  he  did  not 
wish  to  alienate  entirely  his  heathen  subjects,  lest  in 

1  Theod.,  Ecdes.  Hist.  lib.  i.  chap.  32. 

2  Soc,  Eccks.  Hist.  lib.  i.  chap.  39. 


252     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

some  unexpected  emergency  their  allegiance  should 
fail ;  while  at  the  same  time  the  Christians  who  sur- 
rounded him,  relieved  from  persecution,  were  willing 
to  receive  their  Imperial  convert  on  almost  any  terms, 
and  therefore  forbore  too  much  to  press  this  point, 
trusting  that  greater  light  would  lead  him  naturally  to 
adopt  it  ?  As  a  fact,  however,  this  delay  of  Baptism 
seems  to  be  certain,  and  throws  discredit,  therefore,  on 
the  claims  of  the  prophyry  vase. 

But  the  use  to  which  it  was  appropriated  on  the 
night  of  August  1st,  A.  D.  1347,  has  much  more 
surely  connected  it  with  history.  Then,  the  Tribune 
Rienzi  watched  through  the  midnight  hom^s  beside  his 
armor,  as  was  the  custom  of  those  who  on  the  morrow 
were  to  receive  the  knightly  order  of  the  Santo  Spirito, 
and  from  some  strange  association  in  his  mind,  —  so 
colored  by  the  wild  mysticism  which  Arnold  of  Bres- 
cia had  inculcated  two  centuries  earlier,  —  he  ordered 
his  bath  to  be  prepared  in  this  vase  which  was  looked 
upon  as  consecrated.  But  the  Papal  Court  had  no 
sympathy  w^ith  such  visionary  superstition,  and  when 
the  Tribune  fell  and  was  imprisoned  in  the  dungeons  of 
Avignon,  this  act  of  sacrilege  was  one  of  the  strongest 
charges  against  him. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Basilica  is  a  noble  portico 
constructed  by  Sixtus  V.  and  intended  to  cover  the 
Seala  Santa  or  Holy  Staircase.  This  consists  of 
twenty-eight  broad  marble  steps,  which  tradition  tells 
us  are  the  indentical  steps  once  belonging  to  Pilate's 
house,  and  by  which  our  Lord  descended  when  he  left 
the  Judgment  Seat.  The  marvel  of  course  is,  that 
they  could  have  escaped  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
and  all  the  vicissitudes  which  for  centuries  befell  the 


THE   CHRISTMAS  BOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    253 

Christians.  I  find,  however,  upon  consulting  a  Roman 
Cathohc  work,  the  legend  is,  that  during  the  forty 
years  the  judgments  which  fell  on  Jeinisalem  were 
suspended,  the  Christians  were  on  the  watch  to  secure 
all  the  relics  of  their  Master,  and  returning  from  Pella, 
after  the  siege,  when  terror  and  confusion  reigned,  they 
concealed  and  carried  away  the  precious  steps.  No 
one  is  now  permitted  to  ascend  them  but  on  their 
knees,  and  an  Indulgence  of  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  is  promised  to  each  one  who  accomplishes 
the  feat,  at  the  same  time,  "  devoutly  meditating  on 
the  Passion."  At  whatever  part  of  the  day  you  are 
there,  you  see  numbers  going  through  the  painful  ser 
vice.  Men  and  women  —  people  of  rank  and  beggars 
—  old  persons  and  children  —  are  toiling  up,  often 
quite  exhausted  before  they  reach  the  top.  When  they 
have  gained  the  highest  step,  they  stoop  down  and 
kiss  a  brass  cross  inserted  in  the  marble,  and  the  pen- 
ance is  over.  At  one  time,  indeed,  there  seemed  to  be 
danger  that  the  marble  itself  would  be  worn  out  by 
the  knees  of  the  countless  pilgrims  who  availed  them- 
selves of  the  offers  of  Indulgence.  By  ordeV  of  Cle- 
ment XII.,  therefore,  the  steps  were  covered  with 
planks  of  wood,  which  have  been  obliged  to  be  re- 
newed three  times. 

Luther  tells  us  of  an  incident  in  his  own  life  which 
occurred  on  this  spot.  When  the  poor  Saxon  monk 
was  in  Rome,  while  his  mind  was  in  its  transition 
state,  —  disgusted  with  the  superstitions  around  him, 
and  yet  not  knowing  to  what  else  to  turn,  —  he  deter- 
mined to  gain  the  Indulgence  promised  for  ascending 
this  staircase.  While  he  was  slowly  climbing  up,  he 
seemed  to  hear  a  voice  speaking  from  the  depth  of  his 


254     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME, 

heart,  "  The  just  shall  live  by  faith."  He  started  in 
terror  from  the  steps  up  which  he  had  been  crawling, 
and  struck  with  shame  at  his  degradation,  fled  from 
this  scene  of  his  folly. 

The  little  Chapel  at  the  top  contains  a  large  number 
of  relics,  and  is  therefore  so  sacred  that  no  woman  is 
allowed  to  enter  it.  An  inscription  indeed  states,  that 
"  there  is  no  place  more  holy  in  all  the  w^orld." 
Among  these  relics  are  some  of  the  barley -loaves  and 
fishes,  part  of  the  purple  robe,  and  of  the  reed  with 
which  Christ  was  smitten.  The  most  remarkable,  how- 
ever, is  a  very  sacred  painting,  claiming  to  be  a  cor- 
rect likeness  of  our  Lord  at  the  age  of  twelve  years. 
According  to  this  portrait  he  Avas  precisely  five  feet 
eight  inches  high  at  that  age.  It ^ was  begun  by  St. 
Luke,  but  leaving  it  for  a  time,  on  his  return  he  found 
it  miraculously  finished. 

On  each  side  of  the  Holy  Staircase  is  a  lateral  one, 
by  which  pilgrims  can  descend,  and  as  these  steps  have 
not  the  same  sanctity,  they  may  be  ascended  also  in 
the  ordinary  way. 

There  is  one  other  Church  which  deserves  a  brief 
notice.  We  rode  out  one  afternoon  to  the  Basilica  of 
San  Paolo  fuori  le  mure^  on  the  road  to  Ostia,  about 
two  miles  beyond  the  Porta  San  Paolo.  Formerly,  we 
are  told,  a  portico,  supported  by  marble  pillars,  and 
covered  with  gilt  copper,  extended  the  whole  of  this 
distance  from  the  gate  to  the  Church,  but  no  traces  of 
it  can  now  be  seen.  Tradition  informs  us,  that  the 
original  edifice  was  erected  by  Constantino  on  this 
spot,  where  repose  the  remains  of  the  Apostle  Paul. 
In  the  fourth  century,  a  still  more  magnificent  one  was 
built  by  the  Emperor  Theodosius  in  its  place,  and  thence- 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    255 

forth  it  became  a  spot  to  which  every  pilgrim  to  the 
Holy  City  turned  his  steps.  Ancient  writers,  indeed, 
seem  hardly  able  to  find  words  with  which  to  describe 
its  splendor.  They  tell  us  of  its  five  aisles ;  its  lofty 
nave,  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet  long,  and  a  hundred 
and  forty  wide  ;  its  pillars,  a  hundred  and  thirty-eight 
in  number,  and  of  such  rare  marbles,  and  exquisite 
workmanship,  that  they  were  believed  to  have  been 
transported  from  an  Athenian  temple  described  by 
Pausanius.  Some  were  of  porphyiy,  and  others  of 
that  beautiful  marble  called  pavonazzo  —  white,  tinged 
with  delicate  purple.  On  the  top  of  these  pillars  was 
the  celebrated  series  of  portraits  of  the  Popes,  from  St. 
Peter  to  Pius  VII.  Their  true  history  seems  to  be, 
that  they  were  commenced  by  Leo  I.  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, who  had  his  predecessors  also  painted.  Before 
his  time  they  are,  of  course,  therefore  imaginary,  but 
afterwards,  with  some  exceptions,  they  might  have  been 
genuine. 

But  all  this  has  long  since  passed  away.  About 
twenty  years  ago  the  Church  took  fire,  and  the  flames 
raged  with  such  violence  that  the  whole  was  entirely 
consumed,  and  even  the  splendid  columns  completely 
calcined  or  split  into  fragments.  The  rebuilding,  how- 
ever, was  immediately  commenced,  on  a  scale  which 
will  be  second  only  to  St.  Peter's,  and  large  sums  are 
constantly  contributed  by  princes  and  sovereigns  in  all 
quarters  of  the  world.  The  High  Altar  and  transept 
have  alone  been  finished,  and  many  years  will  elapse 
before  the  nave  is  completed.  Even  as  we  saw  it,  how- 
ever, its  magnificence  is  great,  and  the  marble  pillars 
are  the  most  splendid  we  have  ever  seen. 

But,  except  as  a  mere  monument,  the  Church  will 


256     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS   IN  ROME. 

be  utterly  useless,  for  no  one  can  live  in  this  neighbor- 
hood of  pestilence.  It  stands  in  one  of  the  most  deadly 
portions  of  the  Campagna,  —  the  adjoining  monastery 
of  Benedictine  monks  has  been  for  years  almost  de- 
serted, —  and  the  road  which  leads  to  it  from  the  city 
seems  entirely  unfrequented.  Even  the  priests,  who 
minister  at  the  altars,  can  remain  but  for  a  short  time 
in  winter.  As  soon  as  the  spring  approaches,  they  are 
obliged  to  fly  from  the  deadly  malaria.  For  whose 
benefit,  then,  has  this  sumptuous  pile  been  erected,  and 
from  whence  are  to  come  the  worshippers  ?  May  we 
not  also  ask  the  question,  "  To  what  purpose  is  this 
waste?  " 

From  thence  the  road  leads  on  about  three  miles 
through  low,  marshy  grounds,  until  we  reach  the  spot 
on  which  St.  Paul  is  said  to  have  been  beheaded.  It  is 
related  that  such  was  the  manner  of  his  death,  his  right 
as  a  Roman  citizen  having  freed  him  from  the  more 
ignominious  punishment  of  the  Cross.  Here  stand 
close  together  three  churches,  which  date  from  the 
early  times  of  Christianity.  In  one  of  them,  ^S'.  Paolo 
alle  tre  Fontane^  are  three  fountains,  which  are  said  to 
have  sprung  up  where  the  head  of  the  Apostle  struck 
and  bounded  three  times.  Though  close  together,  the 
water  is  entirely  different.  In  the  first  it  is  brackish, 
and  of  a  milky  color ;  in  the  second  it  is  less  so,  and  in 
the  third  entirely  pure.  Here,  too,  are  the  same  evi- 
dences of  the  malaria.  There  are  but  three  priests  to 
perform  service,  who  in  winter  are  relieved  every 
week,  and  in  summer  merely  go  out  to  say  Mass. 
And  yet,  with  all  these  precautions,  two  had  died 
during  the  season.  They  looked  languid  and  miser- 
able, and  said  that  rich,  generous  living  was  prescribed 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    257 

for  them,  but  one  effect  of  the  malaria  was  to  take 
away  all  appetite. 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  Roman  churches.  With  our 
ideas  we  can  scarcely  imagine  the  effect  often  produced. 
We  leave  the  bright  glare  of  an  Italian  sun,  and  when 
we  enter,  find,  instead,  a  subdued  and  softened  light ; 
the  immense  building  perhaps  stretches  out  with  fiA'e 
aisles,  and  a  perfect  forest  of  Corinthian  columns,  the 
shafts  of  different  colored  and  precious  marbles.  The 
ceiling  is  carved  and  gilt,  while  the  pavement  beneath 
is  formed  of  mosaics.  No  pews  obstruct  the  view,  but 
we  look  through  the  whole  immense  length,  and  here 
and  there,  lessened  by  the  distance,  see  some  priest 
gliding  noiselessly  along,  or  some  worshipper  kneeling 
at  a  pillar's  base,  with  his  face  turned  to  the  altar. 
There  seems  a  strange  stilhiess  in  tlie  very  atmosphere 
—  an  impressive  solemnity  pervading  the  interior  of  the 
vast  sanctuary. 

But  whence  came  the  means  to  erect  these  costly 
buildings?  They  were  the  free-will  offerings  which 
thousands  made  to  their  Lord  —  the  donations  of  men 
who  cared  more  for  the  glory  of  His  house  than  for  the 
splendor  of  their  own  residences.  It  is  the  fashion  to 
call  all  this  the  fruit  of  superstition,  but  is  it  not  thus 
too  often  that  avarice  and  worldliness  excuse  their 
stinted  avarice?  Whatever  other  motives  may  have 
mingled  in  their  minds,  they  who  have  thus  sacrificed 
their  worldlv  wealth  showed  a  realizinor  sense  of  the 
life  to  come,  and  a  belief  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
"  laying  up  treasures  in  heaven." 


17 


CHAPTER  XX. 

EXHIBITION    AT    THE     PROPAGANDA.  FUNERALS. 

VESPERS    AT    THE    CONVENT    OF    SANTA   TRINITA. 


^i^^lEAR  our  lodgings  is  the  College  of  the 
Propaganda^  and  we  seldom  pass  it  without 
seeing  a  Cardinal's  carriao;e  at  the  door.  It 
was  founded  by  Gregory  XV.,  in  1622,  and 
has  since  been  justly  regarded  by  the  Church  of  Rome 
as  her  right  arm  of  strength  —  the  school  in  which 
are  trained  her  missionaries  for  every  foreign  land. 
The  building  is  vast,  supplied  with  a  magnificent 
library,  and  with  a  press  by  which  books  are  printed 
in  almost  every  known  language.  It  is  particularly 
rich  in  oriental  characters,  and  has  produced  many 
works  celebrated  for  their  typographical  beauty.  The 
number  of  students  —  as  I  mentioned  when  speaking 
of  the  Epiphany  services  —  is  about  eighty.  It  is  of 
course  a  cherished  and  favored  institution. 

When  in  Naples  we  saw  a  branch  of  it,  devoted  en- 
tirely to  the  instruction  of  young  Chinese  youths.  It 
was  an  extensive  establishment,  but  bearing  marks  of 
decay,  and  evidently  not  kept  up  as  it  once  had  been. 
The  saloon  into  which  we  were  first  shown  was  painted 
with  representations  in  fresco  of  the  martyrdom  of 
some  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries  in  China.  It  was  once 
a  handsome  apartment,  but  now  had  a  dingy,  nnfur- 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLY  DAYS  IN  ROME.    259 

nished  appearance.  The  priest  who  was  at  its  head 
treated  us  with  great  poHteness,  sending  for  all  his  pupils 
to  introduce  to  us,  and  at  his  request  they  showed  us 
the  articles  and  utensils  they  had  brought  from  their 
native  land,  read  aloud  to  us  from  a  Chinese  book,  and 
gave  us  our  names  written  in  the  characters  of  their 
own  lano-uage.  The  number  at  one  time  was  large, 
but  for  some  years  has  been  gradually  diminishing,  and 
now  only  amounts  to  eight.  One  of  these  young  men 
had  been  in  the  Institution  thirteen  years,  and  one  had 
just  arrived.  After  some  years'  training  they  generally 
go  to  Rome  for  a  short  time,  and  then  return  as  mis- 
sionaries to  their  own  country. 

The  Examination  has  recently  taken  place  at  the  In- 
stitution in  Rome,  and  was  followed  by  an  Exliibition 
very  much  like  those  of  our  College  Commencements. 
It  consisted  of  Essays,  Poems,  and  Colloques  by  the 
students,  among  whom  were  two  from  the  United 
States.  The  Catholic  character  of  the  Institution  is 
shown  by  the  fact,  that  these  compositions  were  in 
ffty-nfiine  different  languages  and  dialects.  Cardinal 
Mezzofanti  has  since  given  me  a  programme  of  the  ex- 
ercises, and  I  will  copy  the  list  of  languages  in  which 
they  were  delivered,  to  show  the  wide  reach  taken  by 
tlie  missionary  operations  of  this  Church :  — 

I.  Ebbraico  Letterale.  XI.  Arabo. 

II.  Samaritano.  XII.  Kurdo. 

III.  Etiopico.  XIII.  Persiano. 

IV.  Cakleo  Letterale.  XIV.  Indostano. 
V.  Siriaco.  XV.  Turco. 

VI.  Sabeo.  XVI.  Maltese. 

VII.  Copto.  XVII.  Giorgiano. 

VIII.  Greco  Letterale.  XVIII.  Norwegiano. 

IX.  Armeno  Letterale.  XIX.  Dialogo  Cinese  Letterale, 

X.  Ode  Saffica  Latina.  (by  two  students  from  Siam.) 


260     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 


XX.  Esametri  Latini. 
XXI.  Sanscrito. 
XXII.  Concanico, 
(by  a  student  from  Goa.) 

XXIII.  Singalese, 

(by  a  student  from  Ceylon.) 

XXIV.  Amarico. 
XXV.  Angolano. 

XXVI.  Caldeo  Volgare. 
XXVII.  Ebraico  Rabbinico. 
XXVIII.  Armeno  Odierno. 
XXIX.  Greco  Odierno. 
XXX.  Sonetto  Italiano. 
XXXI.  Svedese. 
XXXII.  Dialogo  Peguano, 

(by  two  students  from  Pegu.) 
XXXIII.  Inno  Italiano. 

XXXIV.  Illirico. 

XXXV.  Albanese. 
XXXVI.  Polacco. 

XXXVir.  Sloveno. 
XXXVIII.  Bulgaro. 
XXXIX.  Tedesco  antico. 
XL.  Tedesco  Letterale. 
XLI.  Swizzero. 


XLII.  Lingua  della  Rezia. 
XLIII.  Olandese. 
XLIV.  Danese. 
XLV.  Inglese, 

(by  Sig.  Elder  of  Baltimore.) 
XLVI.  Scozzese. 
XLVII.  Celtico. 
XL VIII.  Irlandese. 
XLIX.  Chilese. 
L.  Spagnuolo. 
LI.  Portoghese. 
LII.  Catalano 
LIII.  Francese. 

LIV.  Terzine,  [ington.; 

fby  Sig.  Cummings  of  Wash- 
LV.  Siciliano. 
LVI.  Nizzardo. 
LVII.  Epigramma  Latino. 
LVIII.  Dialogo  Cinese  Odierno, 
(by  three  Chinese  students.) 
LIX.  Lingua  Originaria  della  Nu- 
ova  Olanda. 
(by   the  Missionary  Apostolic 
and    Vicar-General    of    Kew 
Holland.) 


I  copy  this  as  a  curiosity.  We  often  hear  of  the 
many  languages  spoken  by  the  students  in  tliis  College 
from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  here  is  an  exhibition 
of  what  is  really  done.  When  shall  our  own  Church 
be  thus  prepared  to  go  forth  with  the  pure  Gospel  to 
"  all  nations,  and  kindreds,  and  people,  and  tongues  !  " 


There  are  probably  few  communities  in  the  world 
which  can  equal  that  of  Rome  in  charitable  associations. 
They  are  called  Confraternities^  and  are  formed  by  the 
voluntary  union  of  individuals,  often  of  high  rank,  who 
111  the  midst  of  all  the  wretchedness  around  them,  de- 
vote a  portion  of  their  time  to  its  relief.    Many  of  these 


THE    CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.      261 

are  never  seen  by  the  mere  traveller,  or  their  existence 
even  suspected,  for  their  sphere  of  labor  is  private,  yet 
it  would  be  difficult  to  estimate  the  amount  of  happiness 
they  must  diffuse. 

One  fraternity,  for  example,  is  intended  to  seek  out 
humble  but  respectable  families  who  would  not  be 
likely  to  apply  for  alms,  and  in  some  delicate  way  to 
relieve  their  necessities.  The  members  of  another 
visit  the  hospitals,  learn  the  situation  of  the  patients, 
and  often  personally  attend  to  them.  Others  visit  the 
jails,  and  furnish  comfort  and  support  to  prisoners  who 
are  without  friends  or  means.  Others  by  voluntary 
donations  pay  debts  which  the  poor  have  unavoidably 
contracted,  and  thus  relieve  their  minds  from  trouble. 
Others  seek  the  sick  through  the  abodes  of  wretch- 
edness in  the  city,  supply  them  with  food,  medicine, 
and  professional  assistance,  and  attend  them  through 
their  illness.  Others  come  in  when  the  last  hour  is 
over,  defray  the  expenses  of  the  burial,  attend  to  the 
performance  of  the  religious  rites,  and  themselves  bear 
the  body  to  the  grave. ^ 

Such  are  their  self-denying  labors  for  the  relief  of 
suflPering  humanity.  The  wretched  need  no  other 
claim  upon  them,  except  that  they  share  in  a  com- 
mon nature.  No  "Anniversary"  is  required  to 
awaken  their  flagging  zeal ;  no  "  Report "  is  sent  out 
on  the  wings  of  the  press,  to  trumpet  forth  their  do- 
ings to  the  world  ;  no  "  List  of  subscribers  "  pub- 
lishes their  charities  through  the  land.  The  members 
indeed  scarcely  know  each  other,  for  their  visits  are 
made  in  the  dress  of  the  fraternity,  so  that  none  can 
recognize  the  individuals.     But  year  after  year  they 

1  Eustace,  Class.  Tour,  iii.  p.  263. 


262     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME, 

labor  on  —  uncheered  by  the  voice  of  human  praise 
—  their  good  deeds  known  only  to  their  Father  who 
seeth  in  secret. 

Those  who  attend  to  funerals,  we  have  frequently 
seen  when  engaged  in  the  performance  of  this  duty. 
They  form  that  "  Ancient  Brotherhood  "  — as  Rogers 
calls  it  —  which  extends  over  all  Italy.  Men  of  the 
highest  rank  —  laymen  as  well  as  priests  —  belong  to  it, 
and  when  summoned  to  this  charitable  work  they  go 
forth  shrouded  in  white  dresses,  with  high  pointed 
cowls  on  their  heads,  veiling  their  faces,  and  leaving 
only  holes  for  the  eyes.  There  is  something  peculiarly 
ghastly  in  their  whole  appearance,  so  that  when  they 
walk  behind  the  dead,  "they  seem,"  says  Corinne, 
"  like  the  ghosts  of  those  they  follow." 

"  There  is  much  solemnity  in  funerals  abroad,  where 
the  Church  steps  in  at  once,  and  takes  possession  of 
the  deceased  as  under  its  protection,  under  the  sanc- 
tion of  its  religious  authority  ;  and  if  it  makes  an  exhi- 
bition, it  is  with  authority,  and  this  proclamation  has 
lioliness  in  it.  All  that  is  not  ecclesiastical  is  kept  out 
of  sight.  There  is  nothing  intermediate  between  the 
deceased  and  the  Church.  The  undertaker  interferes 
not,  intrudes  not  here  to  spoil  all.  Death,  it  is  true, 
reigns  for  the  hour,  but  Keligion  triumphs.  The 
Church  certifies  the  triumph,  and  the  resurrection."  ^ 

We  have  often  had  these  feelings  while  in  Rome, 
for  there  is  nothing  more  striking  there  than  their 
funeral  processions.  They  always  take  place  at  night, 
when  the  darkness  seems  in  unison  with  the  service, 
and  we  have  never  met  them  passing  through  the 
streets,  without  being  arrested  by  the  solemnity  of  the 

1  Prof.  Wilson's  Miscvllanies,  iii.  p.  79. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     263 

scene.  The  corpse  is  generally  borne  upon  an  open 
bier  ;  the  head  exposed,  ghastly  and  white  as  marble  ; 
the  feet,  too,  uncovered  ;  and  the  light  pall  thrown  over 
the  body,  showing  plainly  its  shape  and  outline.  The 
hands  are  clasped  upon  the  breast,  as  if  the  departed 
had  died  in  prayer,  and  the  attitude  had  been  left  un- 
changed. 

Everything  in  the  service  is  intended  to  be  signifi- 
cant of  the  hour  when  the  dead  shall  rise  again  from 
the  dust.  The  priests  bear  lights,  to  signify  that  im- 
mediately before  the  general  Resurrection  "  the  stars 
shall  fall  from  heaven  ;  "  and  the  Cross,  to  denote  that 
then  "  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  shall  be  seen." 
The  mournful  notes  in  which  they  sing  the  Peniten- 
tial Psalms,  declare  that  in  that  hour  "  all  kindreds 
of  the  earth  shall  wail  because  of  Him ; "  while  the 
bells,  which  are  heard  ceaselessly  ringing,  call  upon 
all  to  pray  for  the  peace  of  the  departed  soul.  The 
bier  is  borne  by  these  hooded  brothers,  while  other 
members  of  the  fraternity  carry  tall  w^axen  tapers, 
which  flicker  in  the  evening  wind  and  throw  their 
light  upon  the  corpse,  deepening  the  shadows,  and 
bringing  out  everything  in  bold  relief.  And  as  the 
solemn  procession  sweeps  by,  they  chant  in  melancholy 
tones  the  funeral  anthem  :  — 


"  Quantus  tremor  est  futurus, 
Quando  Judex  est  venturus 
Cuncta  stricte  discussurus ! 

"  Turba  mirum  spargens  sonum 
Per  sepulchra  regionum, 
Coget  omnes  ante  thronum. 


264     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

"  Quid  sum  miser  tunc  dicturus? 
Quem  patron  um  rogaturus, 
Cum  vix  Justus  sit  securus?  "  ^ 

There  is  something  indescribably  touching  in  the 
whole  service,  as  we  see  the  glancing  lights  at  a  dis- 
tance, or  hear  their  old  monastic  chants  floating  through 
the  long  dark  streets.  Sometimes  the  voices  would 
have  about  them  a  sorrowful  wail,  as  if  lamenting  the 
lot  of  poor  humanity,  and  crying  over  him  they  were 
bearing  along,  "  Alas,  for  thee,  my  brother  !  "  Then 
would  come  a  louder  strain,  swelling  out  like  the 
surges  of  a  far-off"  sea,  partaking  even  of  a  sound  of 
triumph,  as  if  they  celebrated  the  victory  which  one 
day  the  dead  should  have  over  the  grave.  And  then, 
once  more,  it  would  sink  into  a  mournful  note,  and 
faintly  you  would  catch  the  words  of  the  solemn  dirge 
they  were  hymning,  as  the  wind  bore  to  you  the  plain- 
tive prayer,  — 

"  Miserere  Domine !  " 


There  can  be  no  life  more  difficult  than  that  which 
passes  within  a  convent.  Its  members  enter,  and  are 
at  once  cut  off"  from  all  intercourse  with  the  outward 

,  1 "  How  shall  poor  mortals  quake  with  fears, 

When  their  impartial  Judge  appears, 
Who  all  their  causes  strictly  hears ! 

"  His  trumpet  sends  a  dreadful  tone  ; 
The  noise  through  all  the  graves  is  blown, 
And  calls  the  dead  before  His  throne. 

"  What  plea  can  I,  in  sin,  pretend? 
What  patron  move  to  stand  my  friend, 
When  scarce  the  just  themselves  defend?  '* 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS   IN  ROME.    265 

world,  except  what  they  can  have  within  the  hmits  of 
the  high- walled  garden  around  them.  The  objects  of 
deepest  earthly  interest  they  know,  are  the  trees  and 
flowers  whose  growth  they  watch,  and  the  birds  which 
pay  them  a  passing  visit.  No  changes  come  to  them, 
except  those  wrought  by  the  gradual  approach  of  age, 
as  with  stealthy  step  it  almost  imperceptibly  draws  nigh. 
No  field  of  outward  labor  occupies  their  thoughts,  but 
everything  is  centred  in  themselves.  And  thus  they 
go  on  through  long  years  of  solitary  watching,  and 
mortification,  and  weariness,  and  perpetual  prayer, 
vinvisited  by  any  of  those  joys  which  gather  around 
the  path  of  social  life,  until  at  last,  they  quietly  lie 
down  to  their  long  sleep  in  the  humble  cemetery  of  the 
convent. 

But  if  any  have  a  pleasant  lot,  it  must  be  the  Sisters 
of  the  Convent  of  Santa  Trinita.  It  is  situated  on 
the  Pincian  Hill,  looking  over  the  whole  of  Rome 
which  rises  beneath  it,  with  its  pinnacles,  and  domes, 
and  towers.  What  a  dreamy  existence  must  its  in- 
mates pass,  while  everything  on  which  the  eye  rests 
invites  to  meditation !  The  deep  blue  of  an  Italian  sky 
is  over  their  heads,  the  luxuriance  of  nature  is  around 
them,  while  at  their  feet  are  scattered  the  noblest 
monuments  of  ages  that  are  gone.  We  had  frequently 
been  told  that  the  most  touching  music  to  be  heard  in 
Rome  was  that  of  their  Vesper  service,  but  that  some 
persons  having  lately  misbehaved  during  its  perfor- 
mance, an  order  had  been  issued  to  exclude  all  Protes- 
tants. For  this  of  course  we  could  not  blame  them. 
No  one  has  a  right  to  go  into  a  foreign  church  merely 
to  gratify  his  curiosity,  and  then  by  levity  interrupt 
the  worship.     However  he  may  differ  from  them,  he 


266     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

should  regard  tlieir  feelings  for  the  sanctity  of  the 
place  and  the  service.  But  the  conduct  of  foreigners 
in  Rome  is  generally  in  this  particular  very  exception- 
able. They  seem  to  regard  the  most  solemn  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  the  Church  of  Rome  as  merely  intended 
for  their  amusement,  and  act  accordingly.  There  cer- 
tainly is  nothing  religious  in  their  conduct,  and  the 
most  we  can  say  of  it  is  that  it  may  be  somewhat 
classical,  for  they  take  in  a  degree  the  place  of  the 
Chorus  in  the  ancient  Greek  Tragedy,  by  continually 
making  tlieir  comments  aloud,  and  giving  their  opinion 
on  whatever  is  going  forward. 

Some  of  our  friends  had  lately  attempted  to  gain 
admittance  to  this  service,  but  without  success.  We 
determined,  however,  to  make  the  trial,  and  one  after- 
noon walked  up  to  the  Convent.  The  chapel  was 
closed,  so  we  proceeded  to  a  side  door  and  boldly  rang 
the  bell.  In  a  moment,  a  nun  in  her  close  white  cap 
appeared  at  the  little  grating,  and  after  reconnoitring 
us,  inquired  our  business.  We  stated,  that  we  came 
to  attend  Vespers ;  whereupon  we  were  informed  that 
we  could  not  be  admitted,  and  the  grating  closed. 
We  lingered  about  on  the  Pincian  Hill,  until  a  short 
time  after  seeing  some  persons  ascend  the  steps  who 
we  supposed  to  be  members  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  we  joined  them  and  mingled  with  their  party. 
Fortunately  a  different  nun  came  to  the  grating, 
through  which  a  brief  conversation  took  place,  when 
the  door  opened,  and  we  all  quietly  walked  in  to- 
gether. 

The  upper  part  of  the  chapel  was  separated  from  the 
rest  by  a  high  grating,  within  which  was  the  altar, 
while  at  the  other  end  was  a  lofty  organ  gallery  com- 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     267 

municating  with  the  Convent.  In  a  few  moments  a 
priest  with  four  or  five  attendants  entered,  and  knelt 
before  the  Altar.  Then  a  side  door  within  the  grating 
opened,  and  some  forty  scholars,  their  heads  covered 
with  white  veils,  came  in,  and  after  gracefully  kneel- 
ing for  a  moment  before  the  crucifix,  ranged  them- 
selves on  each  side.  In  the  high  choir  gallery  we 
could  just  see  the  white  caps  of  the  nuns  appearing 
above  the  railing. 

At  length  the  service  began.  The  organ  played  a 
few  fitful  notes,  when  a  single  female  voice  was  heard 
from  among  the  nuns  chanting  in  the  most  plaintive 
manner.  It  seemed  indeed  to  wail  out  as  if  a  funeral 
dirge.  Others  presently  joined  in,  and  the  sounds 
sweetly  filled  the  chapel.  They  ceased,  and  instantly 
were  heard  the  manly  voices  of  the  priest  and  his  at- 
tendants, as  kneeling  like  statues,  with  their  faces 
towards  the  altar,  they  sang  the  response.  Then  came 
again  those  soft  and  melancholy  tones  from  the  organ 
gallery,  and  thus  they  alternated  through  the  whole 
Evening  Psalms.  It  was  the  only  time  in  the  service 
of  the  Church  that  we  had  heard  male  and  female 
voices  together,  and  the  contrast  was  striking.  I  know 
not  why  it  was  too  that  the  voices  of  these  nuns 
sounded  so  plaintively,  but  they  seemed  in  harmony 
with  the  service,  heard  in  the  waning  twilight ;  and  the 
whole  effect  was  deeply  devotional.  The  tones  at  times 
seemed  to  be  almost  unearthly,  as  if  they  had  been 
purified  from  the  frailty  of  this  lower  world  —  the  out- 
pourings of  a  spirit  utterly  divorced  from  all  the  cares 
of  this  wearing  life,  — 

"  Musical,  but  sadly  sweet." 


268     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

Madame  de  Stael  says, "  Those  who  have  not  heard 
Italian  singing  can  form  no  idea  of  music.  The  human 
voice  is  soft  and  sweet  as  the  flowers  and  skies.  This 
charm  was  made  but  for  sucii  a  clime :  each  reflect  the 
other.  The  Italians  have  ever  devotedly  loved  music. 
Dante,  in  his  '  Purgatory,'  meets  the  best  singer  of  his 
day,  and  asks  him  for  one  of  his  delicious  airs.  The 
entranced  spirits  forget  themselves  as  they  hear  it, 
until  their  guardian  recalls  them  to  the  truth."  And 
this  view  of  Italian  enthusiasm  is  correct.  In  other 
lands  they  may  bring  music  to  the  highest  point  of 
perfect  execution,  but  here  they  seem  intensely  to  feel 
it.  The  sweet  sounds  to  which  they  listen  enter  into 
their  very  souls.  And  when,  in  addition,  the  senti- 
ments embodied  lead  our  thoughts  on  to  the  solemn  re- 
alities of  the  future,  the  strains  fall  upon  the  ear  with 
a  touching  power  of  which  words  can  give  no  adequate 
idea. 

But  to  return  to  the  Convent  Vespers.  Besides 
ourselves,  there  were  only  about  forty  persons  present, 
all  of  whom  were  undoubtedly  members  of  the  Church 
of  Rome,  except  one  English  gentleman,  who  probably 
gained  admission  very  much  as  we  did.  Their  deeply 
devotional  manner,  as  they  knelt  upon  the  marble 
pavement,  contributed  much  to  the  solemnity  of  the 
scene.  They  were  evidently  not  mere  spectators,  but 
worshippers.  As  the  service  proceeded,  the  twilight 
deepened,  the  incense  spread  through  the  dark  arches 
above  us  like  a  thin  white  cloud,  and  the  only  lights 
being  the  candles  about  the  Altar,  the  rest  of  the 
chapel  was  gradually  involved  in  gloom.  There  was 
an  absence  of  all  that  parade  and  show  which  gener- 
ally mark  the  services  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    269 

altogether  it  was  the  most  impressive  one  which  we 
attended  in  Italy.  For  months  afterwards  we  were 
haunted  by  the  solemn  melody  of  these  tremulous, 
plaintive  tones.  They  reminded  us  of  those  "  spiritual 
creatures,"  whose  songs,  when  "  in  full  harmonic  num- 
ber joined,"  our  first  parents  heard  in  the  bowers  of 
Paradise,  "  from  the  steep  of  echoing  hill  or  thicket  "  — 

"  Celestial  voices 
Sole,  or  responsive  each  to  other's  note, 
Singing  their  great  Creator !  '* 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. THE  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE 

PAPAL   COURT. 

T  is  the  fashion  to  abuse  the  Itahans.  Trav- 
ellers pass  through  the  country,  meeting  only 
the  custom-house  officers,  the  postilions,  and 
the  hangers-on  at  inns,  and  decide  authori- 
tatively on  the  worthlessness  of  the  people.  It  is, 
of  course,  evident,  that  they  see  the  woi'st  portion,  and 
can  learn  no  thin  o;  of  those  traits  of  national  character 
which  lie  below  the  surface.  The  first  view  is  cer- 
tainly not  prepossessing.  The  traveller  finds  wretched- 
ness on  every  side  of  him,  and  therefore  records  at  once 
a  condemnation  against  the  whole  country,  which  a 
little  more  time  induces  him  to  revoke.  Such  was  the 
case  with  Shelley.  Nothing  can  be  more  widely  dif- 
ferent than  the  opinion  which  he  expresses  of  the  peo- 
ple on  first  entering  Italy,  and  that  which  we  find  in 
his  letters  only  six  weeks  afterwards. 

And  this  is  particularly  the  case  in  the  Papal  States. 
Your  first  greeting  is  from  a  crowd  of  beggars.  In  Tus- 
cany nothing  of  the  kind  is  seen,  and  it  proves  there- 
fore that  the  evil  is  the  result  of  wretched  government. 
During  a  residence  of  several  weeks  in  Florence,  we 
were  scarcely  ever  asked  for  charity,  and  on  our  way 
through  the  country  saw  only  an  active,  industrious 
population.     The  instant,  however,  that  we  once  more 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    271 

crossed  the  frontiers,  and  entered  the  territories  of  the 
Church,  on  our  way  to  Bologna,  the  old  scene  was  re- 
newed, and  the  carriage  surrounded  by  swarms,  en- 
treating relief  in  the  name  of  the  Madonna,  and  all  the 
saints  in  the  Calendar. 

In  Rome  itself  we  meet  with  apparently  the  most 
wretched  population  in  all  Italy.  There  is  no  trade  or 
commerce,  and  it  seems  as  if  half  the  people  supported 
themselves  by  begging.  Wherever  you  go,  they  gather 
around,  and  you  have  constantly  dinned  into  your  ears, 
*'''  Caritd^  forestieri''''  (charity,  strangers).  They  par- 
ticularly collect  on  the  steps  of  the  Scala  di  Spagna^ 
because  strangers  generally  reside  in  that  vicinity,  and 
there  they  lie  in  wait,  wishing  you  "  good  morning," 
and  for  a  hajoecho^  adding  to  it  a  profusion  of  prayers 
for  your  welfare.  In  addition  to  the  difficulty  of  find- 
ing any  employment,  this  delicious  climate  probably 
indisposes  them  to  active  exertion.  Their  maxim  is, 
^•^  Dolce  far  niente^^  (it  is  sweet  to  do  nothing),  and 
they  make  life  one  long  siesta.  It  glides  away  in  a 
graceful  listlossness,  —  a  dreamy,  sleepy  indolence,  — 
until  illness,  or  the  feebleness  of  age,  warns  them  that 
they  will  soon  have  done  with  it  forever.  Then,  some 
Brotherhood  nurses  them  in  their  last  agonies,  and 
buries  them  when  dead.  This  state  of  things,  it  is 
true,  cannot  be  pleasant  to  a  stranger,  for  it  brings 
constantly  before  him,  misery,  real  or  feigned,  in  every 
form,  until  there  is  danger  lest  his  heart  may  at  last 
become  hardened  against  every  exhibition. 

Robberies,  too,  are  frequent.  Almost  the  only  light  in 
the  narrow  streets  is  that  which  comes  from  the  faintly 
twinkling  lamps  hung  before  the  pictures  of  the  Ma- 
donna.    There  is  ample  opportunity,  therefore,  for  the 


272     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME, 

assassin  to  do  his  work,  and,  concealed  in  a  dark  alley 
or  doorway,  he  waits  to  spring  on  the  passer-by.  With 
him  the  old  demand  —  "  Your  money  or  your  life  "  — 
means  something.  The  former  must  be  immediately 
forthcoming,  or  the  latter  is  gone  ;  for  the  stiletto  is 
sharp,  and  the  arm  that  wields  it  skillful.  Passengers, 
therefore,  at  night  walk  carefully  in  the  middle  of  the 
street,  looking  around  them  with  the  cautious  air  of 
men,  who  feel  that  they  are  in  an  enemy's  country. 
As  it  is,  every  week  we  have  the  tale  of  some  murders 
committed.  No  newspaper,  indeed,  records  them,  for 
it  is  the  policy  of  government  to  hush  up  such  proofs 
of  its  weakness,  yet  still  they  are  whispered  about  as 
items  of  the  daily  news.  In  this  respect  Rome  is  a 
miserable  contrast  to  Vienna,  where,  so  admirable  are 
the  police  arrangements,  that  a  female  might  at  mid- 
night walk  alone,  from  one  end  of  the  city  to  the  other, 
without  being  insulted. 

These  are  things  most  obvious  to  a  traveller,  and 
which  interfere  most  with  his  comfort,  but  they  are  not 
to  be  charged  on  the  great  body  of  the  people.  They 
are,  indeed,  hasty  and  fiery  in  disposition,  but  by  no 
means  cruel  or  sanguinary,  and  their  crimes  are  very 
often  the  result  of  some  sudden  and  almost  irresistible 
impulse.  The  man  of  whom  you  hear  as  having,  in  a 
moment  of  passion,  taken  life,  perhaps  gives  himself  up 
to  agonies  of  mind  infinitely  worse  than  the  scaffold, 
and  then  passes  his  remaining  days  in  a  monastery,  to 
atone,  by  bitter  repentance,  for  his  sin.  Such  are  the 
extremes  of  Italian  character. 

Most  travellers  prefer  the  Neapolitans  to  the  Ro- 
mans. They  are  charmed  with  the  light-hearted, 
merry   air    of  the    poor    lazzaroni,    or   amused   with 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLY  DAYS  IN  ROME.    273 

the  strange  contrast  in  their  traits.  With  scarcely 
any  clothing,  and  no  home  nearer  than  the  grave,  — 
through  the  day  lounging  in  the  sun  of  their  delightful 
climate,  and  at  night  sleeping  in  the  grotto  of  Posi- 
lippo,  or  any  other  shelter  that  is  at  hand  ■ —  steeped  to 
the  lips  in  poverty,  and  with  no  prospect  before  them 
but  to  die  in  a  hospital,  and  be  buried  like  a  dog  in  the 
Campo  Santo,  —  you  would,  of  course,  expect  to  find 
them  reduced  to  the  lowest  state  of  brutal  degradation. 
And  yet,  go  out  on  the  Mole  of  a  beautiful  day,  and 
you  will  see  a  circle  of  these  homeless  wretches  gath- 
ered around  some  reader,  whom  they  have  hired  for  a 
few  grana  to  recite  to  them  the  "  Orlando  Furioso " 
of  Ariosto,  or  the  lofty  strains  of  Tasso.  All  this,  of 
course,  fascinates  a  casual  observer,  but  I  prefer  the 
Romans.  They  have  less  frivolity;  more  depth  and 
solidity ;  more  of  the  haughtiness  and  resei've  of  the 
Spaniard  —  in  short,  more  character  than  the  Neapoli- 
tans. At  the  same  time,  they  excel  tlie  French  in 
sincerity,  and  the  Germans  in  refinement.  The  knowl- 
edge of  the  arts,  which  they  imbibe  from  their  child- 
hood with  the  very  air  they  breathe  gives  them  a  grace 
of  mind,  and  a  degree  of  civilization,  which  would  sur- 
prise one  able  to  look  below  the  surface.  The  forms  of 
expression,  too,  used  by  the  lower  orders  have  often  an 
air  of  poetry  about  them,  which  contrasts  strikingly 
with  the  uncouth  speech,  and  glaring  vulgarisms  of 
the  same  classes  in  Northern  Europe.  It  is,  indeed, 
customary  with  us  to  ridicule  them  for  their  supersti- 
tions, yet,  with  the  faith  in  which  they  were  instructed, 
would  it  not  be  a  miracle  if  it  were  otherwise  ?  And, 
besides  this,  should  not  the  land  which  has  witnessed 
Salem  witchcraft  and  Mormonism  —  without  mention- 
is 


274     THE    CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

iiig  countless  other  developments  of  fierce  fanaticism  — 
remember  the  line  — 

"Mutato  nomine,  de  te  fabula  narratur?  " 

Those  who  know  them  best  commend  them  for  being 
kind-hearted  and  generous.  Charitable  we  know  they 
are,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  minister  to  tlie 
wants  of  those  poorer  than  themselves,  might  teach  a 
useful  lesson  to  many  who  pride  themselves  on  their 
refinement  and  purer  faith.  We  refer  here  to  the 
common  people,  for  as  a  class  they  are  far  superior  to 
their  nobles.  This,  indeed,  is  the  case  through  all 
Southern  Europe,  and  even  in  Spain,  where  the  claims 
of  descent  are  still  so  much  respected.  There  the  An- 
dalusian  peasant  is  a  much  nobler  being  than  his  lord. 

How  far  the  stream  of  Koman  blood  has  remained 
unmixed  with  that  of  the  barbarians,  who  in  succession 
became  masters  of  the  city,  we  cannot  of  course  tell. 
In  one  district  of  Rome,  on  the  further  side  of  the 
Tiber,  live  a  peculiar  race,  who  probably,  more  than 
any  others,  retain  the  traits  w^hich  are  left  of  the 
ancient  inhabitants.  They  are  the  Trasteverini^  boast- 
ing themselves  the  sole,  unmingled  descendants  of  the 
old  masters  of  the  world.  You  can  detect  them  any- 
where by  their  noble  figures  and  haughty  bearing,  as 
if  they  had  the  consciousness  of  being  of  a  superior 
race.  "In  the  tall  forms,  and  bold  profiles,  of  the 
Trasteverini  women,  the  matrons  of  Rome  might  still 
discern  their  true  successors,  fi'esh  mothers  of  new 
Gracchi ;  and  in  the  fiery  eye  of  many  a  male,  in  that 
wild  Janiculum  suburb,  or  among  the  fierce  Montigiani, 
there  linger,  yet  unquenched,  the  lightnings  before 
which  client  kings   and  suppliant  ambassadors,  were 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLY  DAYS  IN  ROME.    275 

wont  to  quail."  ^  They  are  most  careful  to  prevent 
any  intermarriage  with  those  around  them  ;  no  worldly 
temptation,  indeed,  seems  strong  enough  to  induce 
tliem  to  contract  an  alliance  out  of  their  own  clan. 
Their  dress  is  peculiar:  the  men  having  a  jacket  of 
black  velvet  thrown  over  their  shoulders,  a  crimson 
sasli  round  their  waist,  and  large  silver  buckles  on 
their  shoes ;  while  the  women,  particularly  on  fete 
days,  are  gayly  attired  in  velvet  bodices,  laced  with 
gold,  scarlet  aprons,  and  their  hair  braided  in  silken 
nets,  with  large  silver  bodkins.  Even  their  section  of 
the  city  seems  to  be  less  changed  than  the  rest.  Their 
churches  are  old  temples,  but  little  altered ;  the  bridges 
which  connect  them  with  the  city  occupy  the  same  sites 
as  those  which  were  built  two  thousand  years  ago  ;  and 
among  them,  they  still  point  to  one  which  has  taken 
the  place  of  that  Horatius  Codes  so  gallantly  de- 
fended. The  inhabitants  seem  to  have  all  the  lofty 
spirit  of  those  they  claim  as  ancestors,  but  there  is  no 
worthy  object  to  which  to  direct  it. 

Such  then  are  the  modern  Romans,  and  we  have 
given  this  sketch  because  we  believe  that  degraded  as 
we  often  see  them,  they  possess  within  themselves  the 
elements  of  better  things.  A  wretched  government 
has  made  them  what  they  are.  Crushing  all  enter- 
prise, and  discouraging  any  studies  which  may  give 
evidence  of  an  inquiring  mind,  what  does  it  leave  to 
its  subjects  but  a  life  of  hopeless  inactivitj^  ?  They 
have  nothing  to  do  —  nothing  for  which  to  strive,  — 
nothing  which  it  is  possible  for  them  to  achieve. 

The  time  when  Rome  enjoyed  its  greatest  prosperity 
was  undoubtedly  during  the  brief  rule  of  the  French. 
1  F.  W.  Faber. 


276     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

When  they  constituted  it  "  the  Department  of  the 
Tiber,"  almost  their  first  act  was,  the  formation  of  an 
Institute  of  twenty-four  Professors.  The  abuses  in  the 
administration  of  justice  were  at  once  removed ;  asy- 
lums for  assassins  abohshed  ;  murderers  torn  even  from 
the  altar  to  receive  their  punishment ;  and  for  the 
first  time  in  many  centuries,  life  began  to  be  safe 
within  the  walls  of  the  Eternal  City.  The  fiery  spirit 
of  the  Trasteverini  impelled  them  to  some  outrage, 
and  immediately  a  strong  force  crossed  the  Tiber, 
marched  into  their  section,  seized  the  ringleaders,  and 
shot  twenty-tw^o  when  surrounded  by  their  own  clans- 
men. From  that  time  there  was  the  most  perfect 
peace  in  the  Trastevere.  The  feudalities  of  the  nobles 
too  were  abolished,  and  the  power  of  life  and  death  on 
their  estates  taken  from  them.  Prince  Doria,  it  is 
said,  at  that  time,  surrendered  ninety  fiefs,  and  Bor- 
ghese  as  many.  A  pressure  —  the  crushing  weight 
of  centuries  of  religious  despotism  —  seemed  to  be 
removed  from  Rome,  and  a  new  life  began  to  be 
breathed  into  its  people. 

Nor  did  the  antiquities  escape  their  care.  The 
Column  of  Trajan,  part  of  the  Forum,  and  the  Baths 
of  Titus,  were  excavated  under  their  direction ;  and 
more  w^as  accomplished  in  a  few  months  than  had 
previously  been  done  in  a  score  of  years.  We  have 
already  mentioned  —  in  describing  the  Vatican  —  that 
one  of  Napoleon's  great  schemes  was,  to  carry  out  the 
plan  of  Raphael  and  have  a  thorough  exploration  of  all 
the  ruins,  the  execution  of  which  was  only  prevented 
by  his  fall. 

The  Church  too  was  cleared  of  the  incumbrances  by 
which  it  had  been  crippled  for  so  long  a  time.     This 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    277 

was  effected  by  the  sale  of  public  lands,  and  when  Pius 
VII.  returned,  he  found  that  debts  to  the  amount  of 
millions  had  been  liquidated,  and  in  place  of  bank- 
ruptcy he  had  an  overflowing  treasury. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  the  French  rule 
ended.  The  old  government  resumed  its  sway,  and  at 
once  Rome  glided  back  to  the  sixteenth  century.  If 
the  wave  of  a  magician's  wand  could  in  an  instant 
transform  England  into  what  it  was  in  the  days  of  the 
Tudors,  it  would  not  be  a  greater  change.  Industry 
and  energy  only  rendered  their  possessor  liable  to 
suspicion,  and  were  of  course  seen  no  longer.^  The 
countless  ecclesiastics  who  filled  the  streets  under  the 
old  rSgime  once  more  reappeared,  and  Rome  became 
again  what  we  see  it  now  —  the  city  of  priests  and 
beggars. 

From  that  time  the  people  were  again  crushed  down 
by  the  most  grievous  of  all  tyrannies,  —  that  which 
enchains  the  soul  and  the  intellect,  as  well  as  the  body. 
The  most  jealous  surveillance  is  kept  up,  strangers 
are  narrowly  watched,  the  strictest  care  is  taken  to 
exclude  all  heretical  works,  and  even  scientific  re- 
searches are  discouraged.  Politics  of  course  never 
form  a  subject  of  conversation  among  the  people,  for 
they  have   no  right   even  to  have   opinions  on  these 

1  One  result  of  this  naturally  was,  the  immediate  formation  of  a  new 
Tapal  debt.  In  1831  it  had  increased  to  six  hundred  millions  of  Italian 
lire  — more  than  twelve  hundred  thousand  dollars,  —  and  it  has  since  been 
steadily  growing.  In  1832  such  was  the  exhausted  state  of  the  public 
Treasury,  that  a  foreign  loan  was  negotiated,  one  was  imposed  on  the  prin- 
cipal cities,  the  funds  of  some  of  the  charitable  institutions  in  Bologna 
were  seized,  and  the  land-tax  was  increased  a  third:  other  loans  were 
effected  in  succeeding  years.  No  variety  of  expedient  has  been  left  un- 
tried, and  yet  the  financial  position  of  the  government  daily  becomes  more 
critical. 


278     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

points.  The  object  seems  to  be  to  keep  them  in  ig- 
norance of  what  is  passing  in  the  rest  of  the  world. 
Every  little  while  the  officers  of  the  Police  make  a  de- 
scent on  Molandini's  small  circulating  Library, — which, 
by  the  way,  is  used  almost  entirely  by  foreigners,  —  and 
seize  every  volume  which  they  consider  exceptionable. 
Not  a  Prayer-book  for  the  British  Chapel  can  be  kept 
for  sale  in  the  city,  but  all  are  obliged  to  be  smuggled 
in  the  baggage  of  travellers.  While  we  were  there, 
there  was  a  notice  one  morning  at  the  Reading-room, 
that  the  last  few  numbers  of  the  "  London  Times " 
could  not  be  placed  on  the  files.  They  contained 
something  which  the  Government  did  not  like,  and 
had  been  seized  by  the  Police.  None  therefore  could 
be  delivered  from  the  Post-office,  and  the  English  had 
to  go  without  the  latest  news  from  home..  There  is  a 
little  paper  published  several  times  a  week,  not  much 
larger  than  a  sheet  of  foolscap,  but  it  is  principally 
filled  with  notices  of  the  Papal  Court,  festivals  and 
fast  days,  services,  sermons,  and  ecclesiastics.  Any 
item  of  foreign  news  is  generally  with  reference  to  the 
movements  of  some  Royal  family ;  that  "  the  Emperor 
of  Austria  has  taken  up  his  residence  for  the  summer 
at  the  Palace  of  Schonbrunn,"  or  something  equally 
important.  And  this  is  the  intellectual  liberty  allowed 
by  the  Papal  Government.  Can  we  expect  anything 
therefore  from  the  people  ?  Our  only  wonder  is,  that 
every  spark  of  generous  or  lofty  emotions  is  not  long 
since  trampled  out,  and  finding  them  as  they  are,  we 
do  not  feel  prepared  to  assent  to  Dante's  charge,  when 
he  describes  them  as  — 

"  the  people  which  of  all  the  world 
Degenerates  most."  i 

1  n  Paradiso,  Cant.  xvi.  1.  56. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    279 

Mazzini,  one  of  their  own  exiles,  thus  describes  his 
native  land  :  "  In  Italy  nothing  speaks.  Silence  is 
the  common  law.  The  people  are  silent  by  reason  of 
terror,  the  masters  are  silent  from  policy.  Conspira- 
cies, strife,  persecution,  vengeance,  all  exist,  but  make 
no  noise  ;  they  excite  neither  applause  nor  complaint : 
one  might  fancy  the  very  steps  of  the  scaffold  were 
spread  with  velvet,  so  little  noise  do  heads  make  when 
they  fall." 

Occasionally  indeed  there  is  an  outbreak,  but  the 
Austrian  troops  march  in,  and  their  bayonets  soon  re- 
store the  cause  of  despotism.  Yet  beneath  its  surface 
the  spirit  of  the  old  Carbonari  still  "  lives,  and  moves, 
and  has  its  being."  That  deep  feeling  of  which  the 
stern  enthusiast,  Arnold  of  Brescia,  the  plebeian  Rienzi, 
and  the  patrician  Stefano  Porcaro,  were  in  succession 
the  developments,  and  which  in  later  days  burns  in 
every  page  of  Alfieri,  is  only  bidincr  its  time  to  come 
forth  in  action.  We  met  with  individuals  dispersed 
here  and  there  who  were  writhing  under  the  foreign 
yoke,  and  when  they  found  we  were  foreigners,  threw 
aside  the  customary  caution  and  gave  utterance  to  their 
indignant  thoughts.  The  society  of  '<  Young  Italy  " 
still  exists  in  depths  to  which  even  an  Austrian  police 
cannot  penetrate,  striking  its  roots  evervwhere  and 
reacliing  each  rank  of  society.  Its  objects  are,  the 
expulsion  of  the  Imperial  troops  and  the  liberation  of 
Italy ;  its  union  under  one  government,  with  Rome  for 
tiie  capital ;  and  the  redaction  of  the  Pope  to  his  spirit- 
ual duties  as  a  Christian  Bishop.  Its  members  are 
often  men,  who,  like  "  the  last  of  the  Tribunes,"  look 
beyond  the  feudal  forms  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  feed 
the  kindling  fires  of  their  minds   by  recollections  of 


280     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

ancient  Classic  Rome.  The  very  beauty  of  their  land, 
rich  in  so  many  haunting  memories,  presents  to  them 
its  ceaseless  appeal.  As  they  wander  among  its  an- 
tique monuments,  the  admonitus  locorum  awakens  every 
noble  impulse,  and  speaks  to  their  souls  like  a  clarion's 
voice. 

And  we  trust  that  one  day  the  time  will  come,  when 
from  the  plains  of  the  soft  Campania,  the  hoary  relics 
of  Imperial  Rome,  the  sea-girt  palaces  of  Venice,  and 
the  olive-groves  of  fair  Milan,  shall  burst  one  wild 
shout,  the  voice  of  a  people  rising  in  its  might  —  the 
herald  of  returning  freedom.  And  then,  when  their 
magnificent  designs  are  accomplished,  and  the  name  of 
Italy  is  once  more  written  among  the  nations  of  the 
world,  another  Sismondi  will  be  needed  to  continue 
her  history,  assuming  for  his  work  indeed  a  happier 
name  than  that  which  the  last  adopted,  when  he  was 
forced  to  inscribe  upon  his  title-page  —  "  Italian  Re- 
publics ;  or,  the  origin,  progress,  and  fall  of  Italian 
freedom,^'' 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE    PAPAL   CHURCH. 

HE  theory  on  which  the  Roman  Government 
is  founded  is  a  noble  one,  —  that  of  rendering 
everything  subsidiary  to  rehgion.  The  whole 
object  and  aim  of  the  civil  authorities  is, 
the  advancement  of  their  faith.  And,  since  they  are 
clothed  with  despotic  power  to  accomplish  this  end,  we 
should  suppose  they  would  wield  an  overpowering  in- 
fluence for  the  spiritual  benefit  of  their  people.  Why 
is  it  then  that  ignorance  and  degradation,  are  so  much 
the  characteristics  of  the  Roman  populace,  except  that 
their  Church  does  not  well  and  worthily  use  the  power 
with  which  it  has  been  intrusted  ? 

We  would  attempt,  however,  with  diffidence,  the  ex- 
pression of  an  opinion  on  the  religious  state  of  Rome. 
It  is  most  difficult,  in  a  foreign  land,  to  decide  on  the 
spiritual  significancy  with  which  the  people  invest  their 
many  ceremonies,  or  the  degree  of  moral  influence 
which  these  rites  exert  over  them.  Everything  is, 
of  course,  more  prominently  brought  before  us,  than 
humble,  unostentatious  devotion.  Of  the  possessors  of 
this  spirit,  the  world  knows  not.  Christ's  true  follow- 
ers are  often  his  "hidden  ones."  Generally,  indeed, 
we  learn  nothing  of  a  system  but  its  glaring  abuses, 
and  from  these  we  form  our  estimate.  We  look,  for 
instance,  upon  a  monastery,  but  remember  not  how 


282    THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

many  fervent  prayers  ascend  from  its  altars,  or  how 
many  hearts,  in  its  gloomy  cells,  may  be  disciplining 
themselves  by  bitter  penitence  for  the  world  to  come. 
We  think  only  of  the  corruptions  of  the  system,  —  and 
they  are,  of  course,  too  great  to  allow  us  ever  to  wish  for 
its  restoration,  —  yet  may  there  not  be  many  a  spirit 
struggling  through  them,  and,  in  spite  of  every  diffi- 
culty, painfully  winning  its  way  on  to  purity  and  peace  ? 
The  latter  is  the  suggestion  of  charity,  which  we  too 
often  forget. 

It  is  in  this  spirit,  indeed,  that  those  without  her  fold 
are  too  much  accustomed  to  estimate  everything  which 
relates  to  the  Church  of  Rome.  They  look  at  her 
course  through  the  Middle  Ages,  and  denounce  it  all 
as  one  long  period  of  evil  and  darkness.  And  yet,  at 
that  time,  the  Church  —  changed  as  she  may  have  been 
from  her  early  purity  —  was  the  only  antagonist  of  the 
ignorance  and  vice,  which  characterized  the  feudal  sys- 
tem. It  was  a  conflict  of  mental  with  physical  power, 
and  by  the  victory  she  gained,  the  world  was  rescued 
from  a  debasing  despotism,  the  triumph  of  which  would 
have  plunged  our  race  into  hopeless  slavery.  If  the 
Church  substituted  another  tyranny  in  its  place,  it  was 
a  better  one.  It  was  something  which  acted  on  the 
moral  impulses  of  man,  and  endeavored  in  its  own 
way  to  guide  him  on  to  sanctity.  No  one,  indeed,  can 
read  the  writers  of  the  "  Ages  "  which  we  call  "  Dark," 
without  feeling  that  beneath  the  surface  was  a  depth 
of  devotion,  and  a  degree  of  intellectual  light,  for  which 
they  have  never  received  due  credit.^   An  isolated  pas- 

1  To  any  one  who  wishes  to  see  the  oft-repeated  stories  of  the  ignorance 
of  "  the  Darh  Ages  "  most  ably  refuted,  we  would  recommend  Maitland's 
Dark  Ages. 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     283 

sage,  or  a  brief  allusion,  discover,  perhaps,  a  thorough 
acquaintance  with  a  truth,  which  w^e  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  consider  utterly  forgotten,  until  rediscovered 
at  the  time  of  the  Reformation.  Look  at  one  sinorle 
example  of  this  in  the  poems  of  a  Spanish  cavalier,  Don 
George  Manrique,  who  was  killed  in  the  year  1479. 
Where,  in  the  present  day,  can  Ave  find  a  clearer  state- 
ment of  one  of  the  great  doctrines  of  our  faith,  than  is 
given  in  the  following  verse  ?  — 

"  0  Thou,  that  for  our  sins  didst  take 
A  human  form,  and  humbly  make 

Thy  home  on  earth ; 
Thou,  that  to  Thy  divinity 
A  human  nature  didst  ally 

By  mortal  birth, — 
And  in  that  form  didst  suffer  here 
Torment,  and  agon^-^,  and  fear, 

So  patiently; 
By  Thy  redeeming  grace  alone, 
And  not  for  merits  of  my  own, 

O  pardon  me !  "  i 

And  yet,  this  was  written  years  before  Luther  was 
born  ;  and  it  was  a  popular  ballad  in  Spain,  sung  in  the 
castles  of  her  nobles,  and  in  her  peasant  homes  through 
many  a  retired  valley,  nearly  lialf  a  century  before  the 
Reformation  began.  We  mention  this  merely  to  show 
how  erroneous  is  popular  judgment  on  such  subjects, 
and  the  necessity  there  is  for  estimating  with  caution 
the  degree  of  intellectual  or  spiritual  light  possessed  by 
masses  of  men  with  whom  our  acquaintance,  is  neces- 
sarily very  limited. 

There  are,  how^ever,  many  practices  of  the  Church 
of  Rome,  wdiich  are  here  constantly  before  our  eyes,  so 
utterly  at  variance  with  every  principle  of  true  Catho- 
lic faith,  that  the  most  enlarged  charity  cannot  forbid 

1  Longfellow's  translation. 


284     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

our  tliorousli  condemnation.  Some  of  these  —  the 
rehcs  and  statue  in  St.  Peter's,  the  face  in  the  Mam- 
ertine  prisons^  the  inscription  on  the  Cross  of  the  Co- 
Hseum,  the  services  of  St.  Anthony's  Day,  and  the 
Santa  Scala  —  we  have  already  mentioned  in  previous 
chapters.  In  the  few  following  pages,  therefore,  we 
shall  endeavor  to  speak  of  others  which  are  most  ob- 
vious. 

In  this  city  the  Church  is  always  before  us.  Its 
holy  days  are  enforced  by  law,  when  the  shops  are 
obliged  to  be  closed,  and  all  business  is  suspended. 
The  magnificent  carriages  of  the  Cardinals  constantly 
dash  by ;  processions  each  day  pass  our  windows,  with 
their  lighted  tapers,  chanting  the  service  as  they  carry 
the  Host,  and  all  kneel  on  the  pavement  while  they 
remain  in  hearing.  Wherever  we  walk,  we  find 
throngs  of  ecclesiastics  of  every  kind.  The  pilgrim  is 
here,  with  his  "  sandal-shoon  and  scollop-shell ; "  the 
lordly-looking  priest,  with  his  ample  cloak  and  shovel 
hat,  and  long  lines  of  friars, — 

"  White,  black,  and  gray,  with  all  their  trampery." 

In  the  city  of  Rome  their  number  is  estimated  at  one 
in  twenty-five  of  the  population,  while  in  the  whole 
Papal  dominions  there  are  said  to  be  (including  nuns) 
nearly  fifty-five  thousand,  —  certainly  ten  times  the 
number  necessary  for  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  peo- 
ple. The  support  for  all  this  army  is,  of  course,  drawn 
from  the  impoverished  inhabitants. 

Of  relics  it  is  almost  superfluous  to  w^ite,  for  every 
church  has  its  abundant  share  of  bones,  and  ashes,  and 
blood,  of  the  Saints.  In  the  Church  of  San  Lorenzo  we 
were  shown  the  gridiron  on  which  St.  Lawrence  suf- 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLY  DAYS  IN  ROME.    285 

fered  martyrdom,  some  of  his  teeth,  and  vials  of  his 
blood.  In  the  Church  of  St.  Praxides  are  marble 
panels,  on  which  are  engraved  a  list  of  the  relics 
they  have  preserved.  It  is  too  long  for  insertion 
here,  but  we  make  from  it  the  following  selection :  A 
tooth  of  St.  Peter ;  a  tooth  of  St.  Paul ;  a  part  of  the 
blessed  Virgin  Mary's  chemise ;  part  of  the  girdle  of 
our  Lord ;  part  of  the  rod  of  Moses ;  part  of  the  earth 
on  which  our  Lord  prayed  before  his  Passion ;  part  of 
the  sponge  with  which  they  gave  our  Lord  to  drink, 
and  of  the  reed  on  which  it  was  placed ;  part  of  the 
sepulchre  of  the  Virgin  Mary ;  a  picture  of  our  Lord, 
which  St.  Peter  gave  to  Prudens,  the  father  of  St. 
Praxides ;  part  of  the  towel  with  which  our  Lord 
wiped  his  disciples'  feet ;  part  of  the  swaddling-clothes 
in  which  our  Lord  was  wrapped  at  his  Nativity ;  part 
of  his  seamless  garment ;  three  thorns  from  his  crown, 
and  four  fragments  of  the  true  Cross.  We  have  copied 
about  one  quarter :  these,  however,  are  sufficient  to 
show  the  objects  of  reverence  which  are  exhibited  in 
every  church  to  the  credulity  of  the  faithful. 

One  of  the  most  fatal  of  their  doctrines  is  that  of 
Indulgences.  It  seems  to  be  expressed  so  broadly  and 
unequivocally,  that  there  can  be  but  one  way  of  under- 
standing it.  Over  the  door  of  almost  every  church  is 
the  inscription  — "  Indulgentia  plenaria  quotidiana 
PERPETUA  PRO  vivis  ET  DEFUNCTis."  In  the  Church 
erected  above  the  Mamertine  prisons  is  a  long  Italian 
inscription,  of  which  we  translate  the  following  por- 
tion :  "  From  a  prison  it  was  consecrated  a  Church  in 
honor  of  the  said  holy  Apostles,  by  Saint  Sylvester, 
Pope,  at  the  prayer  of  the  Emperor  Constantine  the 
Great,  and  he  gave  it  the  name  of  <S.  Pietro  in  Carcere^ 


286     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME, 

and  granted  every  day  to  each  one  who  visited  it,  one 
thousand  two  hundred  years  of  indulgence,  doubled  on 
Sundays  and  commanded  Festivals,  and  moreover  every 
day  the  remission  of  tlie  third  part  of  sins.  Greg- 
ory XIII.  granted  there  plenary  indulgence  on  the 
first  day  of  August,  from  the  first  Vespers  until  sun- 
set. Finally,  Pius  VI.,  in  1776,  granted  there  every 
day  the  perpetual  plenary  indulgence  for  the  living  and 
the  dead."  I  one  day  asked  an  ecclesiastic,  what  these 
things  meant  ?  He  went  into  a  very  elaborate  attempt 
to  explain  them  away,  at  the  end  of  which  I  was  no 
wiser  than  before.  Either  I  was  very  dull,  or  he  dark- 
ened the  matter  by  a  multitude  of  words.  But  these 
inscriptions  are  constantly  seen  on  every  side,  and  how 
must  the  common  and  uneducated  classes  interpret 
them  ?  Why,  of  course,  exactly  according  to  the  lit- 
eral meaning  of  the  words. 

The  doctrine  of  Purgatory  is  brought  before  them 
with  equal  distinctness.  The  inscription  at  the  Ma- 
mertine  prisons,  a  portion  of  which  we  have  given 
above,  concludes  with  this  sentence,  "  The  altar  of  this 
Church  of  S.  Pietro  in  Career e  is  privileged  every  day 
forever  with  the  liberation  of  one  soul  from  Purgatory, 
for  every  mass  which  shall  be  celebrated  at  the  same." 
And  in  almost  all  the  Churches  are  inscriptions  like 
the  following,  which  we  one  morning  copied  from 
over  the  altar  in  that  of  S,  Maria  della  Paee  —  "  Ogni 
messa  celebrata  in  quest  altare,  libera  un  anima  dal 
purgatorio."  Saying  masses  is  indeed  sometimes  the 
only  support  of  unbeneficed  priests.  They  are  in  read- 
iness to  perform  this  duty  for  any  who  wish  it,  and  thus 
contrive  to  gain  a  precarious  living.  The  price  for  a 
mass  is  from  three  to  four  pauls,  that  is,  from  thirty 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    287 

to  forty  cents.  This  disgraceful  traffic  in  sacred  tilings 
shows  that  Rome  has  not  improved,  since  Dante  re- 
ferred to  it  as  the  place  — 

"  Where  gainful  merchandise  is  made  of  Christ 
Throughout  the  livelong  day."  ^ 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Jarvis,  in  a  work —  "No  Union  with 
Rome  "  —  published  a  few  years  since,  has  a  passage 
showing  how  much  an  individual  by  a  little  bodily 
labor  can  do  before  breakfast,  to  gain  remission  of  his 
sins ;  and  from  an  acquaintance  with  the  places  men- 
tioned, we  can  confirm  the  feasibility  of  the  plan. 
"  At  sunrise  he  might  kiss  the  Cross  in  the  Coliseum, 
and  obtain  two  hundred  days'  indulgence  in  a  moment. 
He  might  hurry  to  the  Church  of  St.  Pudens  and  St. 
Pudentiana,  and  during  a  half  hour's  mass,  secure  to 
himself  three  thousand  years'  indulgence,  and  the  re- 
mission of  a  third  part  of  his  sins.  Returning  by  the 
way  of  Ara  Coeli,  he  can  recite  the  litanies  of  the  most 
blessed  Virgin  at  the  altar  of  her  who  by  Papal  au- 
thority is  called  the  refuge  of  sinners,  and  he  has 
two  hundred  days  more  of  indulgence,  which  he  may 
either  keep  himself,  or  kindly  give  to  one  of  his  dead 
friends.  If  he  has  three  pauls  (thirty  cents)  in  his 
pocket,  he  may  exercise  his  charity  toward  that  friend 
still  further,  by  having  a  mass  said  expressly  for  his 
soul  by  one  of  the  monks  or  any  other  priest,  and 
thus  deliver  it  at  once  from  the  torments  of  Pur- 
gatory. Crossing  thence  to  the  Mamertine  prison  he 
may  gain  twelve  hundred  years'  indulgence,  or  on  a 
Sunday  or  Festival  morning,  two  thousand  four  hun- 
dred years,  and  the  remission  of  another  third  part  of 
his  sins.     Here,  also,  if  he  has  another  thirty  cents  to 

1  II  Paradiso,  Cant,  xviii.  1.  50. 


288     THE   CHRISTMAS   HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

spare,  lie  can  pay  for  another  mass,  and  liberate  another 
friend  from  purgatory.  Thus  he  may  before  breakfast, 
every  day  of  his  life,  obtain  jTor  himself  at  least  more 
than  four  thousand  three  hundred  years'  indulgence, 
and  the  remission  of  two  thirds  of  his  sins,  with  only  a 
little  bodily  labor  ;  and  for  the  expense  of  sixty  cents 
he  may  liberate  two  souls  from  purgatory." 

While  such  corruptions  exist,  is  it  not  natural  that 
unbelief  should  be  rife  ?  Tlie  fear  of  the  Inquisition 
may  indeed  prevent  its  open  declaration,  yet  still  it 
poisons  the  very  fountain  of  faith,  and  changes  men 
into  formal  hypocrites.  The  educated  ask.  Can  this 
be  the  religion  of  Christ?  It  requires  but  a  faint 
glimmering  of  reason  to  answer  in  the  negative,  and 
knowing  nothing  to  substitute  in  its  place,  they  fall 
into  the  coldness  of  skepticism.  We  believe  that  the 
external  city  well  typifies  the  actual  condition  of  the 
Papal  Church.  On  every  side  we  see  decrepit,  faded 
grandeur,  the  evidences  of  a  mighty  power  which  in 
past  centuries  had  here  its  home,  but  which  has  now 
utterly  passed  away. 

The  most  fearful  picture  of  religion  in  Rome  is  that 
given  by  Mazzini.  He  writes  indeed  with  the  bitter- 
ness of  an  exile,  and  we  should  therefore  feel  inclined 
to  soften  some  expressions  and  strike  out  some  sen- 
tences of  sweeping  condemnation';  yet  as  a  whole,  we 
fear  there  is  too  much  truth  in  his  view.  "  Conceive 
the  state  of  a  creed-distrusting  people,  curbed,  dom- 
ineered, overburdened  by  an  army  of  priests  manifest- 
ing faith  only  in  force,  who  surround  themselves  with 
Swiss  and  Austrian  bayonets,  or,  in  the  name  of  Christ, 
muster  brigands  from  the  galleys  I  Religion  —  I  speak 
of  Papal  Catholicism  —  is,  in  the  Roman  States  more 


THE    CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.     289 

than  elsewhere,  lifeless ;  lifeless  in  the  educated  classes 
as  a  consequence  of  the  enlightened  age  ;  lifeless  in  the 
people  as  wanting  a  symbol  —  as  wanting  a  something 
representative.  Who  in  that  country  is  ignorant,  that 
the  nomination  of  Christ's  Vicar  depends  on  ambassa- 
dorial intrigue,  and  that  the  direct  or  indirect  Veto  of 
Austria,  of  France,  or  some  other  power,  throws  into 
nonentity  the  so  termed  chosen  of  the  Holy  Spirit? 
Who  is  ignorant  that  long  since  the  King  strangled  the 
Pope;  that  diplomacy  masters  theology  ;  that  the  notes 
of  foreign  plenipotentiaries,  have  inspired  Briefs  to  the 
clergy  of  Poland  and  the  Bishops  of  Ireland  ?  Which 
motu-proprio  of  a  Pope  but  insults  the  infallibility  of 
his  predecessor  ?  Who  in  the  provinces  but  can  point 
to  the  agents  of  the  Prelate-Governors,  shamelessly 
trafficking  in  all  that  can  bring  money  to  themselves 
or  their  masters  ?  How,  dizzied  in  this  whirlpool  of 
scandal,  of  hypocrisy,  of  dilapidation,  can  man  preserve 
his  faith  intact  ?  By  a  deplorable  but  too  natural  re- 
action, negation,  materialism,  doubt,  day  by  day  ingulf 
fresh  souls.  Nought  of  religion  survives  but  forms, 
outward  shows,  and  observances,  compelled  by  law. 
It  is  compulsory  that  men  should  communicate  at  Eas- 
ter ;  it  is  compulsory  that  the  youth  of  schools  and 
universities  should  be  present  at  Mass  each  day,  and 
communicate  once  a  month ;  it  is  compulsory  that  pub- 
lic officers  should  take  part  in  services  termed  religious. 
Such  is  religion  in  the  Papal  States." 

This  is  the  dark  side  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and 
we  write  it  in  sorrow  that  any  branch  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  should  ever  have  given  occasion  for  such  com- 
ments. Very  many,  however,  there  must  be  who  are 
not   subject  to    these    charges,   and  who  in  spite   of 

19 


290     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

their  doctrinal  errors  and  the  dogmas  of  a  perverted 
theology,  seem  to  exhibit  in  their  own  characters  the 
highest  principles  of  faith.  Their  lives  are  marked  by 
austerity,  and  self-denial,  and  ceaseless  devotion.  Un- 
less it  were  so,  tliey  could  not  send  forth  works  char- 
acterized by  so  elevated  a  tone  of  religious  life  — 
breathing  a  spirit  of  abstraction  from  this  world,  and 
a  longing  for  the  realities  of  that  which  is  to  come, 
almost  unearthly  in  its  nature.  Nor  can  these  pro- 
ductions be  read  by  the  people,  and  become  familiar 
to  their  minds,  without  leaving  some  holy  impress. 
Take,  for  instance,  this  little  Latin  hymn,  with  which 
they  are  well  acquainted,  and  how  lofty  is  its  tone  I 
It  is  ascribed  to  St.  Francis  Xavier,  whose  missionary 
labors  in  the  East  gained  for  him  the  title  of  Apostla 
of  the  Indies. 

"  0  Deus  I  ego  amo  te : 
Nee  amo  te,  ut  salves  me, 
Aut  quia  non  amantes  te 
^terno  punis  igne. 

"  Tu,  tn,  mi  Jesu,  totum  me 
Amplexus  es  in  Cruce. 
Tulisti  clavos,  lanceam, 
Multamque  ignominiam: 
Innumeros  dolores 
Sudores  et  angores, 
Ac  mortem :  et  haec  propter  me 
Ac  pro  me  peccatore. 

"  Cur  igitur  non  amem  te 
0  Jesu  amantissime  ? 
Kon  ut  in  ccelo  salves  me, 
Aut  ne  asternura  damnes  me, 
Nee  proemii  uUius  spe : 
Sed  sicut  tu  amasti  me, 
Sic  amo  et  amabo  te : 
Solum  quia  Rex  meus  es, 
Et  solum  quia  Deus  es. 

Amen  " 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    291 

We  subjoin  the  following  translation,  without  know- 
ing to  whom  it  is  ascribed.     It  is,  however,  quite  literal : 

"  0  God!  my  spirit  loves  but  Thee, 
Not  that  in  heaven  its  home  may  be, 
Nor  that  the  souls  which  love  not  Thee 
Shall  groan  in  fire  eternally. 

"  But  Thou  on  the  accursed  tree 

In  mercy  hast  embraced  me. 

For  me  the  cruel  nails,  the  spear, 

The  ignominious  scoff  didst  bear. 

Countless,  unutterable  woes  — 

The  bloody  sweat  — death's  pangs  and  throes  — 

These  Thou  didst  bear,  all  these  for  me, 

A  sinner  and  estranged  from  Thee. 

"  And  wherefore  no  affection  show, 
Jesus,  to  Thee  that  lov'st  me  so? 
Not  that  in  heaven  my  home  may  be ; 
Not  lest  I  die  eternally; 
Not  from  the  hopes  of  joys  above  me,: 
But  even  as  Thyself  didst  love  me, 
So  love  I,  and  will  ever  love  Thee : 
Solely  because  my  King  art  Thou, 
My  God  for  evermore  as  now. 

Amen." 

That  the  mind  from  which  such  lines  emanated 
must  have  been  tuned  to  a  lofty  'devotion,  none  can 
doubt ;  but  when  his  words  are  adopted  as  a  portion 
of  the  literature  of  a  people,  and  sink  into  their  hearts, 
we  consider  it  an  evidence  that  there  are  many  in 
whose  deep  religious  feelings  the  sentiments  them- 
selves have  found  a  ready  echo.  With  such  it  has 
been  my  good  fortune  sometimes  to  meet  —  men  who, 
in  their  self-denying  zeal  and  earnestness  of  spirit, 
might  have  stood  by  the  side  of  Xavier  himself.  And 
I  was  always  glad  to  avail  myself  of  the  opportunity 
to  see  and  converse  with  those  who  differ  from  us  so 
widely,  to   learn  the  extent  of  the  gulf  which  sepa- 


292     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

rates  us,  and  to  hear  their  views  stated  by  them- 
selves. 

This  high  character  common  report  gives  to  Padre 
J.,  with  whom  I  became  acquainted  in  Northern  Italy. 
He  is  a  Jesuit,  and,  w^e  were  told,  one  of  the  most 
influential  of  his  Order  in  Europe.  Brought  up  in 
the  army  of  France,  he  attained  high  rank  under  Na- 
poleon, before  he  abandoned  his  profession  for  the 
priesthood.  He  is  thoroughly  versed  in  all  the  schemes 
of  his  Order,  and  is  usually  regarded  as  keeper  to  the 
conscience  of  the  king  in  whose  dominions  he  now  lives. 
Yet  everywhere  I  heard  a  tribute  paid  to  his  devotion 
and  zeal ;  and  if  he  is  at  times  mixed  up  with  the  in- 
trigues of  states,  it  seems  to  be  done  without  any 
sacrifice  of  those  higher  qualities  for  which  we  should 
chiefly  look  in  the  ecclesiastic.  Although  eighty 
years  of  age,  "  his  eye  is  not  dim,  nor  his  natural  force 
abated,"  and  no  one  from  appearance  would  judge  him 
to  be  more  than  sixty. 

The  greater  part  of  the  morning  before  I  left  the 
city  in  which  he  resides,  was  spent  in  conversation 
with  him.  Meeting  in  the  sacristy  of  the  Church 
attached  to  his  monastery,  he  invited  me  to  his  room. 
We  went  up  through  the  long  stone  galleries,  seldom 
trodden  by  Protestant  feet,  passing  occasionally  a 
monk  who  was  walking  slowly  back  and  forth,  ap- 
parently absorbed  in  the  book  he  held  in  his  hand. 
The  cell  of  Padre  J.  contained  only  what  was  abso- 
lutely necessary.  There  were  his  little  bed  and  table, 
the  picture  and  Crucifix,  the  few  books  he  used,  and, 
besides  these,  we  saw  only  naked  walls  and  the  hard 
stone  floor.  The  day  was  cold,  but  there  was  no  fire 
to  warm  the  room  —  nothing  but  the  little  chafing-dish 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    293 

of  ashes  and  of  coals,  which  the  old  man  held  in  his 
lap,  and  over  which  he  spread  out  his  hands  as  he 
talked.  His  face  beamed  with  animation  as  he  expa- 
tiated on  his  Church,  and  spoke  of  the  cheering  signs 
he  discerned  in  France,  which  he  trusted  would 
strengthen  until  that  land  was  redeemed  from  skepti- 
cism, although  he  himself  could  never  live  to  see  the 
consummation. 

We  mention  this  interview,  because  the  conversa- 
tion was  a  fair  example  of  what  such  discussions  must 
always  be  with  members  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
They  invariably  turn  upon  a  single  point.  The  Padre 
quoted  to  me  that  declaration  in  the  Athanasian  Creed, 
"  Whoever  will  be  saved,  before  all  things  it  is 
necessary  that  he  hold  the  Catholic  faith."  This  of 
course  no  one  is  inclined  to  deny,  but  it  opens  before 
us  the  wide  inquiry.  What  is  the  Catholic  faith  ?  and 
this  only  carries  us  one  step  further  back,  which  is  to 
the  question,  "  What  is  the  Catholic  Church  ?  "  Here 
at  length  we  reach  the  separating  point,  on  which  we 
differ  as  widely  as  the  poles.  And  this  will  always  be 
found  to  be  the  gist  of  the  argument.  It  will  ever 
turn  upon  the  inquiry,  "  Are  we  or  are  we  not,  a 
portion  of  the  true  Catholic  Church  ?  " 

One  claim  by  which  the  old  Padre  attempted  most 
earnestly  to  fortify  his  position,  was  that  of  modern 
miracles  for  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  occurrence 
of  these  he  insisted  on  as  proofs  that  she  was  the 
Church.  He  dwelt  particularly  upon  one,  with  which 
he  assured  me  he  was  personally  acquainted.  It  was 
the  recovery  of  the  daughter  of  the  governor  of  Nice, 
who  had  been  confined  to  her  bed  for  months  with  a 
diseased   limb.     At   length   mortification    commenced 


294     THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

and  she  was  about  to  submit  to  amputation,  when 
through  the  prayers  of  a  friend  offered  up  to  a  certain 
saint,  she  was  instantaneously  cured,  and  able  to  rise 
at  once  in  perfect  health.  Of  course,  the  only  answer 
I  could  make  was,  ''  That  all  this  depended  on  the 
question  of  facts."  This,  however,  is  a  favorite  ar- 
gument with  the  members  of  the  Church  of  Kome. 
The  gift  of  miracles  remaining  in  the  Church  is  some- 
thing tangible,  and  they  are  very  apt,  therefore,  to  bring 
it  forward  in  support  of  their  lofty  claims. 

Italy,  of  course,  abounds  with  the  records  of  modem 
miracles.  Many  undoubtedly  are  the  effect  of  impos- 
ture, but  many  more  owe  their  apparent  existence  to  a 
more  innocent  cause.  In  this  Southern  clime  the 
warm  and  glowing  imagination  of  its  children  renders 
them  disposed  to  receive  impressions  of  the  marvelous, 
with  a  facility  of  which  the  cold  and  cautious  sons  of 
the  North  know  nothing.  Their  tendency  also  to  fig- 
urative language  and  exaggerated  descriptions,  often 
induces  them  to  clothe  a  common  occurrence  in  lan- 
guage which  conveys  a  very  erroneous  impression  to 
the  hearer.  Thus  the  narrative  of  any  event,  seem- 
ingly strange,  after  passing  through  a  few  hands  easily 
grows  into  a  miracle,  and  is  chronicled  accordingly. 
This  is  in  some  measure  the  philosophy  of  the  subject 
as  I  once  heard  it  given  by  an  ecclesiastic ;  and  several 
of  his  illustrations  were  so  new  to  me  that  it  may  be 
worth  while  to  give  them,  as  far  as  possible,  in  his 
own  words. 

"  Many  of  these  reputed  miracles,"  said  he,  "  are 
mere  types  of  qualities  which  existed  in  the  individ- 
uals to  whom  they  are  ascribed,  and  which  are  thus 
shadowed  forth  by  sensible  images,  or  they  are  figura- 


THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    295 

live  descriptions  of  actual  events.  For  example,  —  in 
one  of  the  towns  of  Italy  a  house  is  pointed  out,  in 
which,  some  half  century  ago,  a  wandering  friar  ap- 
plied to  the  family  for  alms.  Being  rudely  repulsed, 
he  went  into  the  kitchen,  where  a  brace  of  pheasants 
were  roasting  before  the  fire.  He  made  over  them  the 
sign  of  the  Cross,  when  at  once  they  slid  off  the  spit, 
clothed  themselves  with  feathers,  and  flew  away. 
Thus,  at  least,  runs  the  legend.  Now,  to  you  tliis 
undoubtedly  seems  a  ridiculous  fable ;  to  me,  on  the 
contrary,  it  is  a  most  edifying  story.  I  strip  it  of  the 
figurative  language,  and  this  history  remains.  That 
family  was  probably  known  to  be  deficient  in  the  virtue 
of  charity,  and  Providence  brought  misfortunes  upon 
them.  The  pheasants  represent  the  superfluities  and 
luxuries  of  life,  and  by  their  departure  we  learn,  that 
the  riches  of  these  churls  '  made  to  themselves  wings 
and  flew  away.'  This  was  their  retribution,  and  the 
narrative  comes  to  us  as  an  allegory." 

"  So  it  was,"  he  continued,  "  often  in  England.  St. 
Dunstan  had  a  quarrel  with  Edwy,  because  that  King 
had  married  Elgiva,  his  relative  within  the  prohibited 
degrees.  After  a  long  contest  the  Saint  gained  the 
day,  and  the  King  was  forced  to  yield.  The  common 
people,  whose  sympathies,  in  that  rude  age,  were  all 
with  the  Church,  hailed  it  as  a  triumph.  The  King 
had  been  forced  to  forego  '  the  lusts  of  the  flesh.'  St. 
Dunstan  had  conquered  the  Evil  One.  Thus  they 
spoke  of  it  as  a  battle  with  Satan,  and  in  the  next  gen- 
eration, by  means  of  the  figurative  language  in  which 
tradition  gave  it,  the  conflict,  in  their  belief,  passed 
into  a  real  and  personal  one.  Their  champion  had 
actually  encountered  and  routed  the  Devil.     And,  as 


296      THE   CHRISTMAS   HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

stories  which  are  thus  handed  down  never  lose,  we 
now  have  the  legend,  that  St.  Dunstan  ended  the  con- 
test, by  seizing  the  Devil  with  a  red-hot  tongs.  So 
it  is  with  all  his  life.  Read  the  marvels  which  the  old 
monkish  chroniclers  have  given  us  about  him,  and  you 
can  reduce  them  all  down  to  some  such  basis  of  com- 
mon sense." 

We  give  this  ejcposition  for  its  singularity,  leaving 
the  reader  to  decide  on  its  value  as  elucidating  the 
legendary  lore  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

And  yet,  amid  all  the  ignorance,  and  superstition, 
which  prevails  in  this  land,  there  are  reflecting  minds 
sighing  for  a  purer  faith.  They  would  not  desert  their 
Church,  but  they  see  her  errors,  and  would  have  her 
remodeled  in  accordance  with  Catholic  truth.  They 
realize  that  she  has  borne  herself  too  loftily,  and  would 
wish  her  therefore  to  lay  aside  her  temporal  claims,  and 
in  lowliness  of  mind  demean  herself  as  she  ought  — 
changing,  too,  their  Pontiff  to  a  Christian  Bishop,  that 
he  may  no  longer  be  induced,  while  the  Lord  tarries, 
to  forget  his  duty  to  his  fellow-servants,  and  to  tyran- 
nize over  them.  These  are  views  which  we  have  often 
heard  expressed.  On  one  occasion  we  travelled  for 
some  time  with  a  gentleman  from  Milan,  who  had 
reasoned  himself  out  of  the  errors  of  his  Church,  and 
into  a  Creed  essentially  Catholic.  But,  for  the  pres- 
ent, he  did  not  dare  to  show  that  he  had  abandoned 
any  of  the  old  landmarks.  And  there  were  many,  he 
said,  who  shared  his  sentiments. 

May  we  not  hope,  then,  that  the  time  will  come, 
when,  within  the  bounds  of  their  own  Church,  they 
will  feel  every  aspiration  gratified,  faith  have  room 
for  its  exercise,  and  Catholic  truth  recognize  her  once 


THE    CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  V^SOME.     297 

more  as  its  champion  ?  How  nobly  wo^f  :all  that  is 
pure,  and  holy,  and  of  good  report,  advance  in  this 
apostate  earth,  if  Rome  could  throw  aside  her  errors, 
and  lend  her  mighty  influence  to  the  cause  !  She  still 
retains  those  ancient  Creeds,  which  were  acknowledged 
in  primitive  times,  and  are  now  held  by  all  Catholic 
Christendom.  The  great  truths  she  teaches  are  the 
truths  for  all  ages  —  the  awful  verities  for  which  con- 
fessors and  martyrs,  in  early  days,  were  willing  to  die. 
The  errors  she  mingles  with  them  are  the  dogmas  only 
of  her  single  Church  —  which  particular  times,  and 
schools,  have  grafted  on  her,  and  which  she  has  unfor- 
tunately retained.  How  earnestly,  therefore,  should  we 
pray,  that  the  hour  of  her  awakening  may  come,  when, 
leaving  her  relics  to  moulder  in  their  forgotten  shrines, 
putting  from  her  all  narrow  sympathies,  restoring  her 
doctrines  to  the  model  of  early  times,  and  uniting  at 
lensth  with  those  who  have  retained  the  faith  in  its 
purity,  the  long  separated  brtinches  of  Christ's  Church 
shall  be  able  to  go  forth  together  to  reap  the  harvest 
fields  of  the  Cross  !  Then  shall  the  Church  become  in 
reality  that  august  spectacle  which  floated  before  the 
glowing  vision  of  St.  Augustine,  when  on  the  distant 
shores  of  Africa,  and  amidst  the  expiring  throes  of 
Paganism,  he  sent  forth  his  "  City  of  God,"  to  hail, 
with  all  the  treasures  of  his  matchless  eloquence,  that 
universal  dominion  which  he  knew  would  be  her  heri- 
tage. This  is  the  consummation  which  poor  humanity 
is  earnestly  desiring.  The  world  is  wearying  of  strife, 
and  more  and  more  with  hope,  and  love,  and  oft  re- 
peated inquiry,  is  craving  the  return  of  Christian  unity. 
In  every  land  we  feel  the  mighty  beatings  of  this  in- 
tense desire  with  which  the  heart  of  our  race  is  filled. 


298     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

But  we  must  close  this  chapter.  We  have,  through 
this  volume,  spoken  of  the  Papal  Church,  honestly  and 
truly,  as  she  seemed  to  us,  expressing  the  admiration 
we  feel  for  the  many  Catholic  traits  she  retains ;  her 
charitable  institutions  for  the  relief  of  every  kind  of 
misery  ;  her  broad  and  expansive  views,  looking  over 
the  whole  earth  as  the  field  of  Christian  labor,  and  the 
solemn  beauty  of  so  many  of  her  services,  appealing  at 
once  to  the  deepest  cravings  of  the  heart  by  their  holy 
teaching,  or  raising  the  soul  above  this  earth  by  the 
austere  hymns  received  from  early  days.  But  the 
view  is  one  of  mingled  darkness  and  light.  We  have 
been  forced,  therefore,  to  speak  also  of  fearful  errors 
perverting  the  truth,  and  of  countless  ceremonies  mar- 
rino;  the  effect  of  her  noblest  services,  till  he  who 
studies  them  in  the  Missal  scarcely  recognizes  them 
when  performed  amidst  the  pomp  of  her  old  Cathe- 
drals. We  can  have  no  sympathies,  then,  with  Rome 
while  she  remains  unchanged,  but  turn  from  her  with 
renewed  happiness  to  the  stern  purity  of  our  own 
Church. 

"  I  love  thee,  nor  would  stir 

Thy  simple  note,  severe  in  character, 

By  use  made  lovelier,  for  the  loftier  tune 
Of  hymn,  response,  and  touching  antiphone, 

Lest  we  lose  homelier  truth." 

He  must  be  unsettled,  indeed,  in  the  first  principles 
of  his  own  belief,  who  can  decide  otherwise,  or  gather 
from  a  study  of  the  Papal  Church  any  feeling  but  that 
of  thankfulness  to  old  English  Reformers,  because  they 
were  willing  to  peril  their  lives,  even  unto  death,  to  de- 
fend the  purity  of  the  faith.  "  If  first  thou  be  well 
grounded,"  says  Fuller,  in  his  usual  quaint  way,  "  their 
fooleries  shall  rivet  thy  faith  the  faster,  and  travel  shall 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME.    299 

give  tliee  Confirmation  in  that  Baptism  thou  didst  re- 
ceive at  home." 

But  are  there  some  who  are  unwilling:  to  recomiize 
anything  good  witliin  her  fold,  and  feel,  therefore,  as  if 
we  had  not  been  thorough  enouo;h  in  our  condemnation 
of  Rome  ?  We  would  say  to  them.  It  is  not  a  pleas- 
ant office  for  the  children  of  the  Peacemaker  to  be 
widening  those  gulfs,  which  even  now  separate  them 
so  much  from  each  other.  We  have,  indeed,  con- 
demned where  truth  required  it,  but  dwelt  with  regi'et 
on  these  portions  of  our  subject,  for  we  remember  that 
we,  too,  as  a  Church,  have  our  grievous  sins,  which 
might  well  hush  every  whisper  of  self-complacency. 
Widely,  then,  as  we  differ  from  Rome,  we  would  speak 
of  her  with  no  feelings  but  those  of  the  deepest  sorrow, 
that  such  a  mighty  influence  should  be  lost  to  the  cause 
of  truth.  Let  it  be,  as  when  in  ancient  Israel  one  of 
her  tribes  came  not  up  in  the  day  of  battle,  the  proph- 
etess declared,  that  for  their  defection  "  there  were 
great  searchings  of  heart."  And  should  another  rea- 
son be  asked,  we  would  quote  to  him  who  demands  it, 
the  words  in  which  a  poet  of  our  own  day  inculcates 
the  true  Christian  temper,  and  the  remembrance  of 
which  has  often  restrained  the  pen,  when  we  would 
have  written  words  of  bitterness,  — 

"  Thou  to  wax  fierce 

In  the  cause  of  the  Lord, 
To  threat  and  to  pierce 

With  the  heavenly  sword  I 
Anger  and  zeal 

And  the  joy  of  the  brave, 
"Who  bade  ihee  feel, 

Sin's  slave  ? 
The  altar's  pure  flame 

Consumes  as  it  soars ; 


300     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

Faith  meetly  may  blame, 

For  it  serves  and  adores. 
Thou  warnest  and  smitest  ! 

Yet  Christ  must  atone 
For  a  soul  that  thou  slightest  — 
Thine  own." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

FAREWELL   TO    ROME. 

HE  time  of  our  departure  draws  nigh,  and 
we  must  soon  bid  adieu  to  the  Eternal  City. 
Pleasant  indeed  have  been  the  days  of  our 
sojourn  here  !  Crowded  with  scenes  which 
could  not  but  awaken  the  deepest  interest,  they  went 
by  like  the  ''  Days  of  Thalaba."  We  have  been 
living  for  a  time  in  the  shadowy  Past.  The  remem- 
brance of  distant  ages,  whose  traces  are  preserved  only 
in  dim  tradition,  came  thronging  on  us  at  every  step. 
It  was  moving  back  the  shadow  upon  the  old  dial-plate 
of  Time.  It  was  summoning  up  from  the  depths  of 
our  own  minds  the  memory,  long  indistinct,  of  deeds 
which  moved  the  world,  and  here  on  the  spot  where 
they  were  acted,  investing  them  with  a  reality  and  life. 
We  look  at  what  Rome  has  been  in  the  days  of  the 
Republic  and  in  the  splendor  of  her  Imperial  sway, 
and  then  seek  out  the  footsteps  of  these  mighty  Ages, 
in  the  fading  greatness  which  still  remains.  And 
everywhere  we  trace  them  still  uneffaced.  The  Mis- 
tress of  the  world  indeed  stands  before  us  like  Milton's 
Apostate  Angel,  whose  — 

"  Form  had  yet  not  lost 
All  her  original  brightness,  nor  appear'd 
Less  than  archangel  ruin'd,  and  the 
Of  glory  obscured." 


302     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

We  have  been  once  more  to  St.  Peter's  to  take 
another  look  at  that  unequaled  temple,  and  from  the 
brow  of  the  Pincian  Hill  for  the  last  time  have  seen 
the  sun  set  over  this  array  of  domes  and  towers.  How 
beautifully  it  goes  down  in  the  cloudless  sky,  pouring 
a  flood  of  golden  light  upon  the  mighty  city  !  Grad- 
ually the  purple  fades  from  the  mountains,  and  the 
transparent  azure  above  is  exchanged  for  the  deeper 
blue  of  the  evenmg  sky,  gemmed  by  a  thousand  stars. 
We  sat  there,  with  no  one  near  us,  to  watch  the 
changing  lights  and  shadows.  A  death-like  calm,  an 
air  of  dreamy  repose,  rested  on  the  city  at  our  feet. 
The  idle  loiterers  had  left  the  Hill,  and  we  saw  only 
its  statues  and  obelisks,  and  works  of  antique  art, 
mingling  with  the  deep  green  of  the  foliage.  As  we 
looked  upon  the  scene  spread  out  in  beauty  around  us, 
there  seemed  to  be  within  our  sight  a  glorious  grouping 
of  all  that  is  exquisite,  the  loveliness  of  present  nature 
mingled  with  the  noble  associations  which  the  past  has 
bequeathed  to  us  from  a  remote  antiquity.  The  fading 
light  spread  over  it  a  bewitching  softness,  a  mellow- 
ing and  blending  of  every  tint  and  color,  which  words 
cannot  describe  and  which  only  Claude  could  have 
painted.  And  while  the  twilight  deepened,  there 
came  faintly  from  the  neighboring  Convent  the  sound 
of  solemn  music,  and  the  stillness  around  us  was 
broken  by  the  Evening  Hymn  to  the  Virgin :  — 

"  Ave,  Regina  ccelorum, 
Ave,  Domina  angelorum. 
Salve  radix,  Salve  porta, 
Ex  qua  mundo  lux  est  orta  ; 
Gaude  Virgo  gloriosa, 
Super  omnes  speciosa  ; 


THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME,    803 

Vale,  0  valde  decora, 

Et  pro  nobis  Christum  exora."  i 

But  what  is  to  be  the  destiny  of  Rome  ?  Is  she  to 
be  the  centre  of  Christendom,  and  age  after  age  the 
place  to  which  pilgrims  from  every  land  shall  direct 
their  steps  ?  Is  she  entering  on  a  new  dominion  — 
the  third  cycle,  —  in  which  she  is  to  rule  the  world  by 
Arts  as  once  she  did  by  her  arms,  and  then  by  her 
faith?  There  is  another  thought  which  has  in  it 
something  affecting  and  solemn.  The  malaria  is  in- 
creasing, so  that  large  portions  of  the  city  which  a 
century  ago  were  famed  for  their  salubrity,  are  now 
uninhabitable.  At  the  Lateran,  the  Pope  has  been 
obliged  to  leave  his  palace,  and  the  humble  dwellers 
around  him  their  abodes,  so  that  the  tall  grass  waves  in 
those  wide  squares,  and  an  unbroken  silence  has  taken 
the  place  of  the  hum  of  busy  population.  The  enemy 
is  stealthily  creeping  on,  its  presence  betrayed  by  no 
external  sign,  but  there  seems  to  be  a  fresh  and  deli- 
cious atmosphere,  which  they  who  breathe  find  to  be 
death.  No  human  sagacity  can  detect  it  in  the  trans- 
parent air,  nor  any  human  means  arrest  its  progress. 
An  invisible  and  mysterious  agent,  it  expels  man  from 
the  region  over  which  its  wing  is  spread,  or  he  remains 
only  to  wither  and  die. 

But  if  such  continues  to  be  the  history  of  coming 
years,   how  strange  must  be  the  destiny  of  the  Im- 

1  "  Hail  Mar}' !  Queen  of  Heavenly  spheres, 
Hail,  whom  the  angelic  host  reveres ! 
Hail  fruitful  root !    Hail  sacred  gate. 
Whence  the  world's  light  derives  its  date; 
O  glorious  Maid,  with  beauty  blest! 
May  joys  eternal  fill  thy  breast! 
Thus  crown'd  with  beauty  and  with  joy. 
Thy  prayers  for  us  with  Christ  employ. " 


304     THE   CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME. 

perial  City !  Its  people  will  gradually  retire  before 
this  destroying  spirit,  and  seek  in  other  spots  the  safety 
denied  them  here,  until  once  more  the  Seven  Hills 
become  as  silent  as  they  were  before  Romulus  en- 
camped upon  their  heights.  Then  it  will  remain, 
like  the  city  of  which  we  read  in  Arabian  fable,  whose 
inhabitants  in  a  moment  were  turned  to  stone,  so  that 
the  traveller  wandered  in  amazement  through  palaces 
and  halls,  where  none  came  forth  to  meet  him,  and  no 
sound  was  heard  but  the  echo  of  his  own  steps.  Its 
mighty  monuments  will  stand,  like  those  of  Psestum, 
waste  and  desolate  in  their  grandeur.  Spring,  and 
summer,  and  winter  will  pass  over  the  forsaken  city ; 
the  hoariness  of  age  gather  on  its  marble  columns 
and  stain  its  gilded  walls  ;  and  Nature,  spreading  her 
luxuriance  over  them,  and  wreathing  them  each  year 
with  a  thicker  drapery,  thus  silently  yet  surely  reclaim 
her  dominion  ;  until  at  last  all  on  which  we  now  gaze 
will  only  harmonize  with  the  wild  and  dreary  Cam- 
pagna  around. 

But  would  not  this  be  a  fit  conclusion  to  the  long 
and  eventful  career  of  the  Mistress  of  the  World? 
There  seems  a  strange  and  mysterious  awe  lingering 
about  her  which  forbids  the  thouo-ht  that  she  should 
fall  by  human  agency.  If,  after  surviving  wars  and 
sieges  and  conflagrations,  she  must  at  last  be  num- 
bered with  Nineveh  and  Babylon,  and  those  cities  of 
the  Elder  World  whose  names  only  live  in  history,  let 
there  be  no  proud  conqueror  rejoicing  over  her  end  ! 
Let  her  not  be  crushed  and  humbled  by  the  violence 
of  man,  but  thus  pass  away  "  without  hands,"  so  that 
the  hour  can  scarcely  be  marked  in  which  she  ceases 
to  exist ! 


WORKS    BY  THE   SAME   AUTHOR. 


I. 

The  Lenten  Fast. 

Thirteenth  Edition,     ^1.25. 
II. 

The  Double  Witness  of  the  Church. 

Seventeenth  Edition.    $1.50. 
III. 

The  Early  Conflicts  of  Christianity. 

Fourth  Edition.     ^1.25. 
IV. 

The  Catacombs  of  Borne. 

Fifth   Edition.     jjSi.oo. 

V. 
The  Early  Jesuit  Missions  in  North  Americs. 

Fourth  Edition.     $i.5a 

VI. 
The  Unnoticed  Things  of  Scripture.  - 

jfust  Published.     $1.50. 
VII. 

The  Christmas  Holydays  in  Home. 

A'^rio  Edition.     $1.75. 


^ 


0^ 


14  DAY  USE 

,^rUHKTODBSK.aOMWHICHBOBKOWEO 

LOAN  DIPT. 

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slpTj9T4l9 


LD  2lA-60m-4,'64 
(E4555sl0)476B 


General  Librap'     . 
Berkeley 


